


The Origin of Halloween: Slaughter Of The Lambs

by Vivian_R_Vergiou



Category: Creepypasta - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, Brutal Murder, Character Death, Clues, Creepypasta, Demonic Possession, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Family, Family Issues, Graphic Description, Horror, Mental Health Issues, Mental Illness, Monsters, Murder, Murder Investigations, Murder Mystery, Mystery, Origin Story, Original Character Death(s), Original Character(s), Original work - Freeform, Other, Police Procedural, Psychological Horror, Religious Imagery & Symbolism, Serial Killers, Survival Horror, Trauma, Undead, Violence, creepypasta original character, graphic description of violence, murders, not for the faint hearted
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-05
Updated: 2020-01-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:33:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 52,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22133344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vivian_R_Vergiou/pseuds/Vivian_R_Vergiou
Summary: A murder going cold and two police investigators vowing to bring the murderers to justice. A family butchered like animals inside their own house in what appears to be retribution; what are the secrets behind their murders? Strange occurences of supernatural nature start to plague the officers and a monster has its eyes trained on them. Will they find out the truth.... or better yet, will they survive?Original story/Creepypasta story that belongs to me (c)
Kudos: 2





	1. Prelude

**_‘’Led as a sheep to the slaughter, and like a lamb before his shearer is dumb, so opened He not His mouth’’ – Acts 8:32_ **   
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
It was yet another ordinary morning.  
  
The busy streets were filled overwhelmingly by the huge hoards of cars that were desperately trying to make their way towards their destinations, their impatient drivers honking or swearing to one another every so often, their patience lost a long time ago, when they first joined the huge crowd of cars on the streets. People were coming and going on the vast sidewalks, with no one having time to really stop for a little bit and admire the various shops that were already decorated with many extravagant Christmas ornaments, their owners trying to lure the customers in, trying to get themselves a fair amount of money to get them through the month. Yet, the people that were crossing the sidewalk right in front of the said shops, paid no attention whatsoever, trying to make their way through the large crowd and reach their working places as fast as they could. Every once in a while, a few kids would pass among them, cheering and laughing happily, with their schoolbags hanging loosely from their small backs, as they pulled each other or their parents towards the direction of their schools. The grownups that escorted them every now and then, had sleep still plastered upon their faces, their eyes tired and a bit droopy as they allowed their kids to pull their hands playfully, with many of them pointing at the toys that were on display inside the shops. Christmas was just a few weeks away and it was only natural for the little ones to be up and about, more than simply excited for all the gifts they were going to take.  
  
_‘Good morning Toronto! I am Anna Reinfen from radio station Boom 97.3 FM and I will be keeping you company until 12 o’ clock at noon. The weather today will be cloudy with a few chances of snow falling late in the afternoon and the temperature will be around -15°C. So, I am suggesting that you take that forgotten coat from your closet and venture outside for some Christmas shopping; also there is nothing better than a hot coffee on a cold winter day like this! For now, let’s go to our very first song, a classic rock hit that you all love!’_  
  
The cheerful voice of the radio host was soon followed by the rocking sound of a classic rock song from R.E.M that flooded the small space of the car immediately. Before I had the chance to start singing to the sound and tap my fingers mindlessly to the steering wheel, the car behind my own honked impatiently, making me focus once again to the traffic light that had turned green. Pressing my lips together, I stepped gently on the accelerator, following obediently the car that was right in front of my own. Today was going to be a good day, I am sure about it; first of all I was not late at all for the first time in the past month and judging from the traffic right in front of me, I was sure that in about ten minutes time, I would be parking my car in front of the Toronto Police Headquarters, proud about myself. Oh yes Catherine, you are not going to be late at all today! Turning on another street on my right, I ventured among the tall, metallic skyscrapers that towered well above the streets and sidewalks, their tall figures giving off an air of prestige and authority; the many companies that were housed on these skyscrapers were some of the most successful ones in the business field and it was obvious by the people that where coming and going hastily through their doors, that they did not appreciate it very much when their employees were late. Luckily for me, this didn’t apply for my police department as well. Chief was a bit lenient, but that did not mean that we were free to do as we pleased, not even in my department. I waved at Bob as I took another turn and the white-haired man waved back as he beckoned a car to pass by him; he was working as a traffic policeman today huh? I bet he must be cold out there. It was the very first day in weeks that the thick snowfall had finally stopped descending from the permanently grey skies but the cold hadn’t retreated in the least; there had been many cases of accidents due to the snowfall, but thankfully, the snow was now carefully tucked on the edges of every street and people were free to roam around like they used to. I mean what can you do? Winters are tough around here and the residences of the town can do nothing else but get used to it.  
  
The thoughts of snow and warm nights beside the fireplace were still running around my mind as I pulled my car to a stop, right outside the Police Headquarters. Sighing to myself, I turned the engine off, immediately silencing the radio and promptly shoved my keys inside my bag that was resting on the passenger’s seat beside me. Grabbing my belt, I passed it carefully around my waist, minding to check that the gun had its safety lock on, before I put it on. Straightening my uniform, I made sure that my brown hair was up in a tight bun and everything in my appearance was perfect, before I opened the car door and stepped outside. Immediately, the sounds of everyday life flooded my ears as I raised my head to look at the tall building that stood right in front of me; just between a few skyscrapers, Toronto’s Police Headquarters was a modern building, made out of dark red bricks and floor-to-ceiling windows. The polygon roof marked the attempt of the architect to make it blend in with the rest of the modern buildings around it, something that he did accomplish quite well if you asked me. Even from where I was standing, I could see clearly the rest of my colleagues roaming the hallways, going on with their business and I knew that in a matter of seconds, I would be joining them as well. So, locking the car and making my way proudly towards the front door, it didn’t took me long to pass the threshold of the enormous building.  
  
From the inside, the Headquarters resemblanced mostly a luxurious office building, rather than an actual police station. Everything was made out of the same dark wood and the white marble floors came in gentle contrast with the also dark walls, serving to make you feel uptight almost immediately. I said hello to the secretary that the front desk and taking the right corridor, I ventured towards the interior offices passing by many people that were either talking about new cases, or studying files at their offices. The strong aroma of freshly brewed coffee was lingering in the air, never abandoning the place even when no one was around, making a small smile find its way to my lips; it was a welcoming scent every time I came to work, mostly because it meant that other people were doing their best to make ends meet with their jobs to ensure the wellbeing of the city’s citizens. I had found it strange when I first came here though; having graduated from the police Academy with the highest grades and good recommendations, I was only 22 at the time. It had taken me a lot of time to get used to how things worked and believe me, a lot of paperwork, but four years later, I found myself being promoted into the Cold Cases. It wasn’t exactly what I expected, since I always had the dream of working at the field of action, but I knew that with the experience it would give me, I would be able to join the rest on the field. So it was okay for now.  
  
Heading to the more isolated offices of the building, I pushed a double door open and passed inside another room. It was rather spacious, made solely by white tiles and with huge metal bookcases attached on every single wall, bookcases that were overwhelmingly flooded with various files that were messily placed on the shelves, containing various cold cases that started from the establishing of the city and went all the way to this very days. On the left wall was the only window inside the room, vast and covered by railings that protected the room from any intruders. Right in front of the window was my own wooden office and right across from it, was my partner’s office.  
  
Steve Meloc was your ordinary fifty-year-old man with the dark black hair that had started turning grey on the edges and the round belly that betrayed long, happy years of married life. I was appointed his partner for the past year and he was the most patient and clever man that I had ever met. He counted more than twenty five years in the task force and the last five he had spend it here, in the Cold cases and thus, he was one of the best people in here that could teach a thing or two to the new ones like me. Solving countless cases, he always smiled kindly when I asked him how he did it and said that his guts were leading the way for him. The moment I stepped inside the room, his clear blue eyes turned towards my direction and he smiled his signature smile.  
  
‘Good morning Catherine. I see you are early today.’ He laughed with his deep voice.  
  
‘You know what they say Steve; the early bird catches the worm.’ I sighed, leaving my bag on my desk ‘What have you been doing up so early?’  
  
He shrugged ‘Thought it would be good to wrap up the case about the ‘Snow Queen’.’  
  
‘The girl we found inside the frozen lake?’ I asked.  
  
‘Exactly.’ He muttered seriously.  
  
‘I still can’t believe how her fiancée had the heart to slice her neck and throw her in there.’ I looked at him, equally serious ‘I bet you twenty bucks that he thought he would get away with it.’  
  
‘There is no running away from the injustice you commit Catherine. Sooner or later, the past demons will come back to haunt you.’ he commented casually, placing some papers back into the file.  
  
I smiled ‘Words of wisdom so early in the morning Steve?’ I teased him.  
  
‘I already had my cup of coffee.’  
  
‘Then I should have mine too.’ I laughed, standing up and walking over to the coffee pot ‘But on other news –since it’s too early to be serious or gloomy- you have plans for Christmas?’  
  
He sighed in an over the top way ‘I wouldn’t call them plans Cath. Gwen already scheduled for the whole family to spend the holidays over at my mother-in-law’s house. She says we’ll have fun, I can’t see how if the old hag is around. I swear to you, she purposely tried to poison me last year.’  
  
If Steve despised something in his whole life, that was certainly his mother-in-law. From the stories I had heard, she never really accepted him as her daughter’s husband, even after the both of them had two lovely children, Nicholas and Maggie. Steve and his wife Gwen were your regular high-school sweethearts that everyone was just excited to hear that they were finally getting married; well, everyone but Gwen’s mother. Still, no matter all the unpleasant surprises she had in store for the man every single time she saw him, Steve never really said no to his wife when she suggested visiting her mother and never had he complained about the mischief he had to endure. Now that I think about it, he never really told her at all. Yet Gwen was no fool and from the few times we had talked, I knew that she was more observant than she looked and knew what was going on the entire time.  
  
‘Well, you can come along with me at Cornwall. My folks would be happy to meet your family and the kids can play with the snow all day.’ I suggested, taking my cup of coffee and walking back at my desk, sitting down and taking a sip of the warm liquid.  
  
‘You know, that sounds like a really good idea.’ He laughed, turning his gaze to meet with mine in a fatherly way ‘And I will be away from the hag. I’ll see if I can convince Gwen.’  
‘Try your best.’ I laughed, the moment that the double door opened again and another man walked inside, cutting our conversation off.  
  
Simultaneously, both mine and Steve’s head turned towards the direction of the door, only to see a white haired man standing right in front of it, sighing heavily and holding a beige folder in his hands, which he threw on Steve’s desk immediately, the moment his brown eyes fell on him and then at me. The man was wearing a white shirt and the black pants from the police uniform with his whole posture betraying anxiousness and tiredness, something that could be clearly visible on his age lines around his eyes. For his fifty eight years of age, he seemed a lot older.  
  
‘Good morning to you too Mark. What brings you on our hole-in-the-wall office today?’ Steve joked, turning his chair to have a better look towards the man.  
  
‘I don’t have time for joking around Steve.’ The latter commented strictly ‘I brought you something.’  
  
‘Another case Chief?’ I asked, leaning forward and tangling my fingers together on the desk, my curiosity overwhelming me; Chief was the one to bring us the new cases, but not once was he as anxious and worried as now. He had joined the force a few years earlier than Steve and was the one that taught him everything he knew; he had saved him on some cases as well, as Steve constantly mentioned himself.  
  
He was an easy-going man, but nothing about his posture now betrayed his calm nature. His eyebrows had almost united completely above his eyes that were as cold as ice shards.  
  
‘I’m afraid so Catherine. But this one is no ordinary case.’ He commented strictly.  
  
‘You brought us the Montaige Family Massacre.’ Steve’s voice came out barely above a whisper, as the man had already opened the file and reading the very first lines, he was surprised; there was nothing good on that surprise though since his eyes had opened wide and his whole face turned into a cold, emotionless mask.  
  
Why though?  
  
I struggled with my memory a little bit and realized that the name surely did sound familiar; and then it hit me. The Montaige Family Massacre. Last year, on the day of Halloween, a family of three was found brutally murdered inside their own house; two of them dead and one of them missing, it occupied both the News and the police for many days to come and despite all the efforts, the culprit was never caught. It was one of the most brutal murders Toronto had seen and even after months, many of the citizens were too afraid to roam the streets alone late at night. The whole town was shaken to its core and the police had such work to do, that no one had a good night’s sleep in the months that followed for sure; some of the policemen that rushed to the scene said it was the worst murder scene they had seen and probably will see; some of them had to take some days off and others consult therapists to get over what had been seen. It was a whole year that the case was ongoing, so it was shocking to see it come to us.  
  
‘I thought that this case was ongoing.’ I blurted out before I had the chance to control myself.  
  
Chief’s jaw tightened in dismay ‘It was. It was until we hit a dead-end two months ago. We couldn’t keep it ongoing for long, so I decided to bring it here to you folks, but I have a very special request.’  
  
‘Ask away Mark, you know you can trust us.’ Steve tried to lighten the mood up, smiling kindly to the man and long-time co-worker.  
  
‘I want you to drop any other case you might be working on at the moment and focus solely at this one. I want you to do the best you can to solve this; this crime cannot go unpunished, because we will have let down one of our greatest partners.’ He said grimly.  
  
‘What do you me-‘ before I had the chance to finish my sentence, Steve interrupted me.  
  
‘Mark, don’t tell me that this family is who I think it is.’ his tone was grim; it was one of the few times that I had seen him completely serious. In a way it was chilling.  
  
Chief nodded ‘This is none other than the family of Andrew Montaige, the man that was our partner Steve and the one that helped us bring down the most dangerous drug cartel in town. This is his family we are talking about and we owe the man to at least find the murderers of his own family. We cannot let this one slide.’  
  
‘You can trust that we’ll see the matter to the end Mark. Give us a month and you’ll have your murderers in your office.’ Steve replied to the man in a serious tone, once again opening the file and going through the pages.  
  
‘Good. I trust you two with it.’ Chief said.  
  
‘We’ll do our best Chief.’ I added.  
  
‘It might require more than simply your best Wortham. Now get to work immediately.’ He threw over his shoulder as he turned and once again exited our office, with my eyes still nailed on his back. It was the first time he was pushing us and if that was indeed the family of one of his partners, I couldn’t blame him at all.  
  
‘Well, it seems like we have much work to do this time.’ Steve commented, taking out the rest of the papers from the file as I turned and started typing away the name of the case in the computer database.  
  
‘How do you want us to proceed on this Steve?’ all lightheartedness had vanished from the tone of my voice and by the nod of his head, I knew that we were taking things seriously from this point onward.  
  
‘As if we know nothing about the case. We must look at the data all over again and visit the house on our own. Poor Andrew; thank God he isn’t alive to see what happened to his family.’ He said bitterly as he checked the papers.  
  
‘Who was him? I think I know the name, but I don’t think I’ve met him.’ I averted my eyes from the computer screen for a brief second to spare him a glance.  
  
This time, Steve looked up from his papers and straight towards me, his face serious, but his eyes betraying sorrow ‘Andrew Montaige was an officer at the Homicide police department. Three years ago, he helped us stop a dangerous drug cartel here in Toronto, that went by the name ‘Snakes’. One year after, he was shot on a usual night patrol and bled out on the spot. He left behind his wife and two daughters.’  
  
‘And these are the victims that we are studying right now right? His family?’  
  
‘Yes. Now tell me what you have found in the data.’  
  
I focused once again on the screen and took a deep breath ‘The Montaige family, murdered a year ago on Halloween night inside their own house in the suburbs. It was the very first home invasion last year and the only one that did result in murder. The house was found vandalized and the victims’ bodies were in different areas of the house; valued possessions were missing, but nothing that couldn’t fit in their pockets.’  
  
‘Home invasion that went wrong?’ Steve thought out aloud.  
  
‘Home invasions have decreased over the past five years due to the new police patrols, but it could be possible if we consider that the time of death was between 1am and 3am approximately. The next home invasions though, happened within two months period of time from the Montaige case and the culprits were found and sent to jail. Could it be them?’ I asked, looking away from the screen.  
  
‘I don’t really know to be honest Cath. The rest of the invasions happened inside the city and crime inside a city is taken as an emblematic of class and race, yet in the suburbs, it’s intimate and psychological, resistant to generalization. Home invasion revolves around elders and single women, but entire families are not targeted, which is strange in this case. I don’t think we should take it as lightly as a seemingly simple home invasion, considering the state in which the victims were found.’ Steve said thoughtfully.  
  
‘What do you mean?’  
  
Before answering me, he fiddled with his papers a little bit, before taking out two of them, holding the papers in front of him so he could read clearly ‘The victims were three: Cameron Montaige age 43 and the mother of the family, Anastacia Montaige age 19 and Lina Montaige age 6; the eldest and the youngest of their daughters.’ He sighed ‘The mother, Cameron, was found with multiple stab wounds on her chest, counting around seventy-two of them, all produced by two right-handed culprits. She was heavily beaten up, resulting into four broken ribs, a broken shoulder and arm, heavily fractured skull and internal bleeding. She died a few minutes after she received the tenth stab wound. Her stomach was opened by an unidentified object post-mortem. The youngest of the family, Lina Montaige was killed by a single shot on the head by a Glock 33 pistol. She died on the spot. And the third victim, Anastacia was never found to begin with. Her body is missing, but from the pool of blood they discovered right beside Lina that belonged to her, she was also considered dead on the spot.’  
  
‘My God..’ was the only thing I could say at that time ‘If we take into account the wounds, I believe that someone must have been pretty angry with the family. The method of killing changed from the mother to the little child, something that could pinpoint that they spared the little one the pain and suffering. I can bet you that if we had Anastacia’s body, it would be heavily beaten up as well. So clearly someone took their anger out towards them!’  
  
‘Continue on Cath.’ Steve said thoughtfully, resting his hand on his chin and looking at me seriously.  
  
‘Think about it.’ I urged him ‘The father was a policeman, so it would be only natural for someone to hold a grudge towards him that didn’t go away with his death. The one that killed those poor girls was angry. It wouldn’t surprise me if it was someone from the gang.’  
  
‘No.’ he sat up on his chair again ‘All the gang members are in prison. We managed to get a hold on the whole organization and we check them all every month. No one had any contact with the outside world in three years now. Plus, the Montaige were placed under state protection.’  
  
‘Maybe another foe then?’ I suggested ‘Someone from their friends that were willing to kill them? Work, school, anyone really..’  
  
‘Let’s see if this stands.’ He went through the papers again ‘Cameron was working from her house as a journalist for the local paper in a cooking newspaper column. The only people she had any contact with were her neighbors and her publisher. Lina was attending kindergarten and Anastacia was attending Ryerson University as an undergraduate Criminology student. Well look at that, she really did take after her father.’ He smiled to himself.  
  
‘You had met her?’ I asked.  
  
‘Only once. Very mild mannered girl but very observant, just like her father. It was your ordinary family; I don’t think they would have any enemies. Still, we should check everything.’  
  
‘Don’t worry Steve, we will find them; it’s only a matter of time for the truth to be revealed.’ I laughed and stood up ‘We will check door to door if we have to.’  
  
When I said that to him, he laughed and told me not to get too ahead of myself, but as the day went by and we indulged ourselves more and more into the lives of the Montaige family, it became clearer than the bright summer sky that maybe doing that would be the only way to solve this particular case. The more information we gathered, the more we failed to pinpoint any triggers that would have lead to the whole family being murdered; they had no immediate enemies and all their friends and remaining family seemed to speak very highly of them and from all the states I read, it was evident that they were devastated by the news about their brutal murders. Cameron’s mother in fact had to be hospitalized for a few weeks once she learnt about the deaths and was in no position to give a clear statement, since her heart condition continued to be critical. That fact, along with the fact that the whole cartel was in jail with no subordinates to the outside world whatsoever, surely did make the case a whole lot more difficult. The lack of leads had already started getting on my nerves and once we called it a day, I was still left with a knot in my stomach that allowed me no rest for the rest of the night, making me toss and turn restlessly in my once comfortable bed. It was the first time that I couldn’t even suspect who might have done the crime and it was surely bugging me nonstop.  
  
So, once I stepped outside my car the next morning, I had zero hours of sleep and a determination that stirred my stomach, tying it into a knot. I had to do something today, I had to at least find one lead or else we will be unable to solve this and that would definitely leave a bad taste not because of the warning, but due to our success rates. The sky above my head had acquired a dull grey color and a chilling cold that managed to reach deep inside your bones, a scenery that was reflecting on my current mood as I made my way to the front door of the Headquarters, keeping my head held high and my fists clenched, paying absolutely no attention to the people that were passing me by, going about their own business.  
But the moment I went through the doors, my gaze falling briefly to the reception desk, ready to say good morning to the secretary, I knew almost immediately that something was amiss. The girl was talking furiously over the phone, yelling towards whoever was on the other line while many of the officers that surrounded the room were talking to each other with grim faces on, nodding and at some points swearing to no one in particular. Everyone seemed to be on edge and I recognized immediately the professional masks that they had on, even this early in the morning. Something had happened I was sure about it. It was right then that the secretary ended her call by slamming the handset back into the rest of the phone and her eyes fell on me, piecing my skin through her pair of glasses.  
  
‘Agent Wortham you are required to head to your office immediately. Your partner and Chief are waiting for you.’ her high-pitched voice was for once dead serious as she straightened her back professionally.  
  
‘Alright.’ I nodded ‘Did something happen? Did they find a lead?’  
  
‘You will see once you get there.’ she simply responded and then went back to make another call, yelling to the officers that were too noisy to leave.  
  
I didn’t have to think much about what she said to me; turning immediately, I started walking towards the direction of my office, my steps echoing in the way too busy hallways. Officers were going up and down the place, others running and others yelling things to one another and all in all the Headquarters seemed to be up and about, giving me a strange feeling that sprang inside my mind; but it was nowhere even near good. There was simply no commotion like that in here. Not when we had large scale cases, not when we had murder investigations, not ever, so seeing them like that was in fact out of the ordinary. Yet once I was relatively close to my own office, I couldn’t help but notice that there were more people; agents were roaming the once distant hallways of the Cold Cases Department freely and not only that, but they were all doing their jobs: looking and checking at closed and forgotten offices, taking fingerprints from the doorknobs and checking to see if the had been trespassed. Still, all the questions that had formed inside my curious mind were answered the moment I stepped inside our office. Once single glance over the place and it was evident why all these people where here.  
  
Right in the middle of the office, Chief Mark and Steve were standing with their backs turned to me, talking grimly to one another and supervising the team of officers that were checking the window and the desks thoroughly for any fingerprints or evidence. As if that was not strange enough, it was once the state of the room settled in inside my mind that I realized what was happening: the office reminded me of nothing like the last time I saw it last night when I turned the lights off and exited, since right now, it could quite easily be compared to a bombarded place or a battlefield. Where the bookshelves were once covering each wall of the office, now, they were all laying on the floor, the files and boxes stored in the selves spread all over the floor with papers and evidence torn and thrown to every possible direction carelessly. Both of the desks were turned over and tossed with power against the wall on our right and the window that had its glass turned into smithereens, also had some of its railing completely torn off from their hinges, just enough to allow a perfect opening towards the back alley if you asked me. And as if all that weren’t enough, the whole room reeked from the foul smell of copper that had filled the air and made it almost impossible for anyone to breathe without a problem.  
  
In response to that smell, my hand flew to cover my mouth and I almost choked as I tried to speak up and notify them about my arrival as well.  
  
‘What the hell happened in here?’ I exclaimed, making both Chief and Steve turn towards me.  
  
‘So you are finally here Wortham. Good; we have a lot to discuss.’ Chief spoke up first.  
  
‘Cath, go wait outside. Now. This is no place for-‘ Steve tried to say with pure worry lacing his voice, yet it was too late for any warnings.  
  
Because as both of them turned, I got a good glimpse of the opposite wall and a certain spot that was previously hidden from the bodies of the two men. Now, I had a perfect view to it and as soon as my eyes rested on it, I immediately ejected myself to the side, grabbed a nearby bin that was thrown there and emptied what I had for breakfast in it. I never was a fainthearted person. No, even if I had seen crime scenes and dead bodies, I never had this reaction; well, up until now. Right now, as I saw the night guard sitting on the floor with his back lying against the wall nonchalantly and his hands resting beside him, I couldn’t find the strength to keep myself from heaving and eventually throwing up. Why? What was the spectacle that made me lose my composure? It was not about the way this man rested or about the copper smell that was unbearable, no; it was because of his face. Correction. Of what used to be his face. Now, it was a scene straight out of a horror story or a slasher movie. Something had hit him on the head; that was as far as I could make out. But the attacker hadn’t stopped there. I wish that he would have stopped there. Instead, the man that I faintly remembered that was named Bob had his face completely taken away; no, it wasn’t taken away. It had turned into a pulp. Someone had hit him straight on with something blunt repeatedly, until his whole skull had turned into a mush and painted the wall behind him, leaving behind nothing else but a bloody stain.  
  
And that was exactly what made me throw up.  
  
Someone grabbed be gently by the shoulders as I tried to regain my composure and pushed me out of the room and away from the gruesome spectacle, something that I was really grateful about. Once the coppery smell was replaced by the clean air of the corridor, my stomach started calming down and I took some shaky breaths, leaning on Steve’s shoulder for support. The man fished a water bottle from his pockets and offered it to me and I immediately took some grateful sips of cold water. My head stopped spinning and started feeling a lot better as I took in some of the refreshing liquid, so I thanked Steve and tried my best to focus on the matters at hand, gazing up to Chief Mark with my skin as white as a sheet.  
  
When Chief looked at me through, a cocky chuckle left his lips and he folded his hands over his chest ‘I couldn’t imagine that you would be a weakling Wortham.’ He was clearly amused.  
  
‘I didn’t think I would see a minced man this early in the morning Chief. Or ever, to be honest.’ I retaliated.  
  
‘Well, I was hoping that you would arrive later and fail to see it Catherine.’ Steve commented, his spirits high.  
  
They surely did act like nothing was going wrong. Was I the only one that had seen the man?  
  
‘What happened in there Steve? Why was the man killed and why is our office in this state?’ I tried to change the subject to more serious things than my faintheartedness.  
  
‘It appears Wortham’ the Chief spoke before Steve even had the chance to open his mouth ‘That someone broke into your office last night, between 3 and 4am. The night guard must have heard the noise and rushed to see what was going on and thus, whoever was inside, killed him.’  
  
Steve sighed beside me ‘The railings were completely torn off and the cameras showed nothing, so we have no leads as to who it might be. He left no fingerprints or any DNA behind, all except from the dead night guard.’  
  
‘Well, they must have been searching for something or else why did they turn the office upside-down?! We just have to see which files are missing.’ I suggested, taking a step forward and gazing at the two of them.  
  
‘You really believe that we didn’t think about that? We checked all of your data and nothing is missing. They took nothing. Not even a single pen.’ Chief said.  
  
‘And the cameras showed nothing?’  
  
‘Nothing at all. The power had went off just in our office around 3.33 am, but nothing happened anywhere else and after half an hour or so, they went back on, revealing the corpse to the cameras. The guards notified Chief and we have been here ever since.’ Steve shrugged his shoulders.  
  
His words immediately sunk in my brain and many possible scenarios went through my mind. What if they were looking for simple info about a case? What if they were here to tamper with any of the evidence we had inside, since they were all in plain view. But why would they do that if the cases were closed?....Wait a minute… The Montaige Case is still open. They could literally tamper with the evidence from the case and we would never even know! But why would they do that? We already have no leads. Maybe they wanted to check if we found anything?...  
  
‘And nothing else is missing from the other offices?’ I asked skeptically.  
  
‘No, the cameras would have picked it up.’ Chief reassured.  
  
‘What are you thinking Cath?’ the years I am spending with Steve surely did give him a hint about when I was in deep thought.  
  
‘That maybe, just maybe, they came to see what our progress is with the Montaige case. Since we have no leads they left empty handed sure, but they came to check nonetheless.’  
  
‘Who would be able to do that?’ Chief questioned.  
  
‘The ones that are behind the murders.’ Steve’s expression was grim ‘They want to make sure that we will not find them. Or, pretty much anything.’  
  
Dead-like silence fell among the three of us, who still kept looking at each other with grim expressions. Maybe this case was not just a murder case. Whoever came inside was looking for something and if he found it or not, we had absolutely no way of knowing. Why would someone get in so much trouble over a family murder case? Only if other things were hidden behind and right at that moment, I was determined to find out if I was right or wrong. Just a small speck of DNA must have fallen, no matter how careful they were and by the looks on Chief’s face, I was sure that he was thinking the same thing.  
  
Eventually he sighed ‘Okay, we will tear this place apart to find even a small hint as to who they were. Someone from across the road must have seen or heard something. Any passerby should help as well. As for the two of you, I can’t risk anyone outside the Department to find out that you are working on this, since it might pose danger for your lives. Return to your houses and we will be in touch. Don’t come out or mess with the case until you hear from me, understood?’  
  
In response to his words, me and Steve exchanged a silent look.  
  
‘I said, understood?’ Chief pressed on further.  
  
‘Understood Mark. We’ll wait for your okay.’ Steve eventually reassured the man.  
  
‘Good. Now off you go.’ He urged us.  
  
I was about to open my mouth and protest, since I wanted to stick around a little bit more to help with the investigations and find any possible clues, but Steve was quicker than me once again, grabbing me by my elbow and urging me towards the corridor that lead outside, waving at Chief and reassuring him that we will stay inside. Once the man was far enough, he turned right ahead and continued to lead me onwards without exchanging a single word, so I obediently followed him, trusting my partner to explain to me when the time was right. People were coming and going all around us and I wasn’t naïve enough to believe that Chief wouldn’t question them afterwards in case they had heard us talking. So it was not safe to chat. But even if Steve told me not to meddle with the case for a few days, I wouldn’t listen to him; come on now, I spend last night tossing and turning in hopes to find a trace or a possible explanation that could help us and if I was unable to work on the case, then many more restless nights were in stock for me. So, once we passed the double glass doors of the Headquarters entrance, I stopped on my tracks abruptly, making Steve release his grip and turn to gaze at me.  
  
I was dead serious when I finally spoke up, once two officers passed by us in a hurry ‘I am not going to either drop the case or not work on it tonight. If you believe that, you are sadly mistaken and I won’t stop even if you tell Chief.’ I declared.  
  
A sly smile played on the edges of his mouth ‘Good thing I managed to save the data on a portable USB then.’ He said, showing me the small device discretely, before shoving it back into his pocket in case anyone saw it.  
  
My eyes widened ‘So we are still working on the case?’  
  
‘Of course we are. Mark is just too cautious since no one has ever broken into the Headquarters, but I don’t think that we’ll be in trouble if we take care of ourselves. And what will bring more security than solving this case, with or without their help?’ he grinned, tightening his coat a bit more to protect himself from the penetrating cold.  
  
Well, I wasn’t all too surprised that Steve thought things a lot further ahead than me. It was one of the reasons that they chose us as partners’ right from the start as he said; he was clearly the brains of our little team and I was the one to jump into action. You could never find one that was combining both attributes, but it was a hell lot easier to combine them together. In these thoughts, I smiled slyly and looked around seemingly nonchalantly, but in reality checking to see if anyone was watching us for Chief’s account.  
  
‘Once you get home send the files to my computer and I’ll get down to business immediately.’ I whispered.  
  
‘I was thinking about you tracking down all the criminals that were active around town a week before and a week after the murders, before sending you the files. This will help us pinpoint any suspects.’ He suggested.  
  
‘Consider it done.’ I sighed ‘But tomorrow we will go check the house and the university.’  
  
‘Deal. I’ll come pick you up at nine.’  
  
‘Perfect. Let’s talk tomorrow then.’  
  
‘Whatever you need, don’t hesitate to call me.’ he nodded at me with his head as a goodbye and then turning, he started walking away, towards the direction of his own car.  
  
Standing right there, I watched him distance himself from me, but my brain was way too occupied with all the questions that were only added to the existing ones today to really focus on his form and I couldn’t help but think if we would ever be able to solve the case anytime soon. I sighed and turning, I started heading towards my own car, trying not to get any further attention from our colleagues inside the Headquarters, since I was sure that at least one or two must be watching us. Let’s play it cool and no one will suspect a single thing, especially since they were too focused on finding out who entered last night. If they did have a chance to find out in the first place, I knew not, but I was practically sure that it had something to do with the Montaige Case and I couldn’t shake the feeling off of me. Thinking about it, it would be a good thing to go by the house and check for any clues. Experience had taught me that no matter how many days or even years pass from the night of a crime, some clues that must have been overlooked then, would easily come to the surface after things settled down for good and this was what lead to the solving of the cases. We just had to look to all the right spots and the truth would reveal itself.  
  
All of these thoughts were running around inside my mind as I finally got to my car and fished my keys from my pockets, ready to unlock it and enter, when a sudden wind arose, chilling me to the core and making me regret my decision of not taking along my scarf but as I opened the door and prepared to hop inside the comfortable interior, it was right then that I stopped abruptly, dead on my tracks. My eyes opened wide with surprise and my breathing came to a stop the very same moment that a haunting chill ran down my spine, agitating my nerves and setting all the alarms off inside my mind. Immediately, my head perked up and my gaze scanned both the empty park that was spreading until the eye could see right in front of me and towards the buildings that were settled behind me and on the other side of the road. The buildings behind looked like nothing was amiss at all; a few people were entering and exiting them, probably going on with their chores or work but the street was relatively empty with a single car speeding by every now and then, just like any other day that the traffic was scarce. The same went for the park right in front of me as well; it was strangely empty for this time of the day with the complete lack of any visitors practically screaming at my face and the maple trees towering well above the paved trails that lead further inside the park, their naked branches only adding to the haunting beauty of winter as they were also covered by layers of snow. The wind was coursing through them, but I could neither hear nor feel it; no, all of my senses were currently blocked and screaming bloody hell inside my mind, due to the sudden feeling that washed over me.  
  
The feeling that a pair of eyes was nailed on my back.  
  
Someone was watching me.  
  
A few studies suggest that the human mind is perfectly capable of sensing when someone is watching it, even when the brain is in the dormant state of sleep; I always seemed to find all of these theories unsustainable and light years away from scientific proof, but right now, as I was turning my head frantically to every possible direction, I was one hundred percent sure that someone had buried his eyes on my back, watching every single move I made. A simply uneasy feeling it was not; it wasn’t just someone looking at me, mostly because all I could feel was an aura of malice and pure hatred flowing inside the gentle air only to burn my back away, a feeling that made a wave of fear wash over me, making me almost shrink on my corner a little, intimidated by the insanity that this gaze was carrying. It wasn’t normal; it wasn’t easy to ignore. It was there, present right now over my head like a demon that was ready to devour my whole soul in one single misstep. Like a deer in bright headlights, it had frozen me on spot, with my brain desperately screaming for the rest of my body to do something, even if it was simply screaming. Yet the stare had pinned me there, unable to move a single muscle.  
  
Then, after some moments that seemed like a whole eternity passed me by, my body moved on its own and despite the stare, opened the car door even more and shoved me inside the car, closing the door loudly behind me. As soon as I was inside, the spell was broken and I found myself frantically trying to turn the engine on. When the keys slipped in the ignition, I almost screamed in delight and turned the engine on, throwing the car on the road with a loud screech from the complaining brakes that I ignored nonetheless. I had to get away from there immediately. Like, yesterday.  
  
The car maneuvered around in the vast streets of Toronto, making rather dangerous moves among the traffic, trying to get as far away as possible from the Police Headquarters and earning many angry honks from the passing cars, which I downright ignored. I didn’t care for them, as long as I didn’t hit anyone or caused any accidents; other than that, these problems were highly trivial among the other ones that creeped their way inside my mind. Like, what the absolute hell was that back there? Not only hadn’t I felt a feeling like this before in my life, but I hadn’t felt so threatened. If I had to describe it, I would say that it was the very same stare that lions give to their prey right after they have discovered it and are currently preparing to attack; it was soul-drenching and I would give up anything in order not to feel like this again. But who was it? No matter how much I tried to find out, following my senses towards the place where I thought it was coming from, I didn’t see anyone; it couldn’t have come from the buildings and no one was on the park to begin with. Then? …… I didn’t like this; I didn’t like this at all…. Maybe we had underestimated our killers and we were in more danger than I firstly thought. As I finally reached the apartment building that I was living in, making the usual long trip to and from work only a five-minute ride, I parked fast and got out of the car thinking only one single thing. Things were going to get nasty, which was the only fact that I was sure about right now.  
  
Walking up towards the entrance, my apartment building looked exactly like the ones that were surrounding it; recently build, with grey and metallic blue colors filling your eyes all the way down the street, until the eye could see; it was one of the disadvantages that came with living into a downtown street but was perfect if you wanted convenience in getting to work on time. My own building only had four floors, with me occupying the right apartment on the fourth one. The rest were mostly occupied by families and university students, except from the only apartment on the ground floor, which was occupied by the handler of the building, miss Cook. She was your ordinary 70 year old lady with the white hair and the arced back, that despite her age, was way better than anyone at both keeping a book about who paid this month’s rent, as well as which apartment had the most visitors. She was always sitting outside her apartment with her knitting kit at hand, wearing a pair of glasses that were suited for farsightedness; she could still see way clearer than she should and always greeted anyone who entered.  
  
And true to my words, the moment I entered, there she was, knitting away some kind of pink socks for her grandchildren.  
‘Hello Catherine my dear. You are early today. Something happened at work?’ her voice seemed as if it was coming beyond the grave and her black eyes nailed on mine the minute they saw me.  
  
‘Everything is fine miss Cook, I am just working from my apartment today.’ I quickly muttered, turning to throw a worried look over my shoulder.  
  
Of course, that did not escape her attention at all ‘You seem awfully pale my darling. Are you sure you are okay?’ she said.  
  
‘I’m just a bit feverish miss Cook, so I’m heading straight to bed.’ I lied with a smile, walking over to the elevator and pressing the button.  
  
‘Oh, you should be careful my dear; flues are not kind this time around for anyone of us.’  
  
‘I’ll try to avoid them.’ I smiled at her ‘Take care!’ I added and closed the door behind me, allowing the elevator to proceed with its route.  
  
Once I had found myself inside the familiar walls of the building, I had let out a deep sigh of relief; I was safe in here, protected by huge walls of concrete and not out in the open, where I could be an easy target from all possible corners. I stepped out of the elevator and walked up towards the door of my apartment on the right, unlocked it and passed on the cozy interior.  
  
Being the one and only apartment that I had seen when I first came to Toronto, I was adamant on renting this one and not even looking for others, just in case I found something better. Despite my mother’s protests, I insisted on the matter and eventually made her give in. And for a good cause; it was neither too small nor too huge for only one person and was affordable for my salary as well. The moment you passed through the front door, you found yourself inside a vast unified space that consisted of both the small kitchen on your right and the living room on the left. I had saved some space right in the middle on the opposite wall to build my office and now the space looked a bit fuller. On the left, there is a really small hallway that leads to the bedroom and the bathroom, but my most favorite part was the huge window wall right next to the living room, that lead to a grand balcony that had view over the street and towards the building across. Decorated with dark red furniture and a warm beige color on the walls, it was cozy and welcoming, perfect for relaxation after a hard day.  
  
Throwing my bag to some random chair, I turned the coffee machine on, before taking off my shoes and going on with opening the computer. I was going to check the active criminals as Steve suggested right away, since time was on our side for now and no one would suspect me if I entered the police database. I poured some half-and-half on my favorite cup, took the seat right in front of the computer and started typing away the codes that were needed for access. And exclamation of happiness left my lips when I did manage to connect and started searching through the list of criminals.  
  
‘Let’s see.’ I muttered to myself and started reading.  
  
There were approximately 24 home invasions on 2014 in Toronto and the suburbs, many of which were around the winter months. Logical, since the night falls faster in the winter than in any other season and it provides with more cover for the culprits, which usually deducted their plans around 1 and 5 am, when the risk of being seen or finding anyone awake are lower than ever. Most of the invasions were targeting wealthy houses and the valuables that they contained, going after business men and women that could provide with large sums of stolen goods. Huh, seems way more than simply possible.  
  
I typed even further.  
  
From all the invasions, due to the new program that was enforced by the police, only four robberies were unsolved, one of them being the Montaige family that was the only one that ended up with murder. The rest of the invasion cases had absolutely nothing to do with the Montaige family; the few family homes that were robbed had nothing connecting them together; no political affiliations, careers, schools or wealth for all that matters. Victimology suggests that they were randomly selected; this would explain why they were so many and why no one else died, except on the Morgans’ home invasion that the father tried to fight back, so he ended up with minor injuries and a mild concussion from a blunt force trauma on the head that was given by one of the robbers. Other than that, no one was killed so brutally. This fact only enhanced the theory that someone with a personal grudge had found the perfect opportunity to attack and kill the family, so, even if Steve had reassured me, I would find a way to contact the members of the cartel that was involved with Andrew Montaige. Only a personal grudge would explain the brute force that was used.  
  
Right at that point, as I was looking through the files, something clicked inside my mind. Like a switch, an idea popped up and I opened all the files of all the unsolved cases. There! There it was! In every single one of the cases, calls were made to 911 some of them that had succeeded into reaching the police and some of them that didn’t. But in the Montaige family, there was absolutely no attempt to contact the police. Why? If I remembered correctly, the girls, Anastacia and Lina were killed on a whole other room, so they should have at least one chance to call the police… but they didn’t. Opening another tab, I entered the phone call towers, trying to trace the signal from the family’s phone line and truly, their phones went dead around the time that the killings happened without any reason at all. Did the killers use a signal jammer? These things were so easy to find online, so they should have. It seems like they really wanted this family to die, eliminating all possible ways out. Bastards.  
  
Going even deeper with all the information, I never really understood how time passed around me, since I was completely engulfed. When I eventually looked up from the screen, sighing in relief and finally having discovered some names that could actually help a bit, I threw a brief gaze on the clock, seeing that it was almost seven in the afternoon. Time had flown by and the sun had given his spot to the endless night that spread outside my windows. It was time to call Steve.  
  
Grabbing my phone I dialed his number and brought the phone on my ear. The man answered after only three beeps.  
  
_‘Tell me you have something.’_ He said instead of a hello.  
  
‘I guess I do, but it depends on what you expect.’ I replied casually, leaning back on my chair.  
  
 _‘Some names or leads?’_  
  
‘There were only 4 unsolved home invasions, with the Montaige case included; the search for names only gave me the whole phone book to look through.’ I commented.  
  
_‘Did you search further than that?’_ he asked.  
  
‘Please, who do you think I am? Of course.’ I joked but then focused ‘I searched the ‘phone book’ for criminals in Toronto that had emphasis on robbery, armed assaults or assaults in general, running through the system with preferences in home invasions. Guess how many names I got.’  
  
_‘Tell me they are five.’_ He sighed.  
  
‘Ouch, you were pretty close.’ I said ‘They are currently three of them. Nate Rivers, aged 54 coming from Italy, convicted for the robbery of ten houses and sent to twenty years in prison until he was released two years ago, he has two sons and he met with his parole officer a week ago. Next we have Jonathan Parker, Canadian, aged 59 and convicted for home invasion, sentenced to ten years in prison, he was released on August 2014, but we don’t have to worry about him, since he died a month before the murders by a heart attack.’  
  
_‘And the last one?’_  
  
‘The last one is Ervin Arcen, American, coming from Michigan, age 45, convicted for armed home invasion with 15 years in prison; got released a year ago and guess what, he lives two blocks away from the Montaige family.’  
  
 _‘We will go check him out tomorrow. I’ll come pick you up at 10.’_  
  
‘I’ll be there.’ I simply said.  
  
 _‘Bye Cath.’_ He said and hung up.  
  
Throwing my head back against the back of the chair, I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath, trying to collect my weary mind that had literally turned into a mush after all this time; it wasn’t easy at all to slip undetected through all of this data, but it was sure as hell that it was worth it. I couldn’t help but feel a little bit happy that we finally had something that we could work on; sure, Arcen might not be the man we are looking for, but it was a start and he could provide us with some clues, even if he was innocent. Chief would not be happy if he found out that we were snooping around with the case, but I was sure that he would overlook it if we presented him with the solved case. I mean, who doesn’t want a problem solved for him without knowing? It surely is the best feeling in the world, especially if it had to do with the deaths of your friend’s family.  
  
But I wouldn’t think about the case for the rest of the evening.  
  
Standing up, I decided that the best way to relax, and this time get a good night’s sleep, was to allow all the tension of the day to leave my body. What a better way to do that than taking a hot shower? All the images from today were still dancing right in front of my eyes; the dead night-guard, the lethal gaze, the info I had searched through so trying to get them out of my mind was mandatory and as I entered the bathroom, stripping off my clothes and entering the shower, I allowed my thoughts to drift off to the upcoming holidays and the fact that I would be returning back to my hometown after so long, to celebrate with my folks. I hadn’t seen them in so long and I was truly kind of missing them.  
  
I hadn’t even realized how cold I felt until the hot water cascaded down. As it came in gentle contact with my frozen skin, my mind cleared from all the worries of the day and my tension left once and for all, allowing my muscles to relax. I tried not to keep my eyes closed, since the night-guard’s image denied me the gift of abandoning me, so I had to keep it away somehow. I didn’t want to throw up again and Steve always said that if you don’t banish it from your mind in time, it will stay with you forever, haunting you and showing the true horrors that our occupation has in store, like ominous, nerve-wracking gifts. In addition, if images like this one always made me sick, how on earth could I even dream that I would be able to be promoted on the field of action? So I had to be strong, I had to build a stronger mentality and push away my reactions. That was what I would do.  
  
Finishing up, I went out of the shower and covered myself with my warm bathrobe before wrapping my hair in a towel and walking out on the hallway. Yet, as I did, I noticed right away that something was amiss.  
  
The apartment was completely dark.

I would have sworn that I had left the lights on and the sudden darkness tensed me up, alerting my senses even if I was able to see somewhat clearly, due to the bright streetlamps and the lights of the road outside. In any other case, I would have simply ignored it as a trick of my mind, like I just turned the lights off and I didn’t notice, but as the haunting cold touch of winter started grazing my unprotected feet, I knew that this wasn’t the deal. Why was the apartment so cold all of the sudden? Right then was the moment that I observed the curtain slightly moving, dancing in the faint breeze of the cold winter night, since the window was open. Last time I opened those windows was two weeks before when I was doing my monthly thorough clean sweep, so there was no way for them to have opened by themselves unless….. someone was in the house.  
  
Realization hit me like a brick wall and before I managed to control myself, my feet moved on their own, backing away until my back came in touch with the wall behind me, the same time that adrenaline rushed to my heart, polluting it inch by inch and allowing the blood flow to spread it through the rest of my body. My mind went completely numb and clear, a small gift that the training back at the academy left me with, still, I could hear nothing else but my own heartbeat that had become one continuous hum, pounding loudly and making me unable to really hear anything else. I took in a few shaky breaths, never failing to look straight ahead on the part of the living room that I could see, in case I saw something moving among the shadows. It’s okay Catherine, it’s only natural to be scared, but if you stay here whoever it is will find you, so move! My thoughts were the ones to really set me into motion, with my inner self gently whispering all the steps I should take. But no matter what, I had to reach the spare gun that I kept on my drawer and then we would see who would scare who in here. I don’t know how the hell did they get here, but I’m definitely not going to walk up to them baldly.  
  
My hand was shaking as I reached for the bathroom door and once I wrapped my finders around the key, I turned the lock and retreated it, shoving it into the pocket of the bathrobe. One room cleared, two more to go.  
  
Moving slightly to the left, trying not to make absolutely, no sound at all, I detach my gaze from the living room, just enough to make sure that the bedroom is completely empty before getting inside quickly, tip-toeing and closing the door softly; I couldn’t afford alerting them at all. With only the light provided by the street and trying to listen to any sounds of movement coming from the living room, I open my drawers and feel around under the clothes, until my hands wrap around something metallic and I pull out my gun. Checking if it was loaded and ready, I also grab a small flashlight from my nightstand, before walking up to the side of the door and opening it carefully, I pass to the hallway with extreme caution. Steadying the gun in front of me, I turn the flashlight on.  
  
The familiar circle of light appears on the opposite wall of the living room, illuminating the space with the clear light and I knew that if someone was still inside the house, he would be alerted about my presence, yet, I had my gun ready and I was prepared for any possible attempt against either my own person, or of an escape. Waiting, my brain was cleared and my hands were steady around the gun, ready to defend me when the time would call for it. It was only a matter of time. In about a second, I will see a shadow running towards me or the window and then I must be extra careful to trap him, not kill him. Unless he threatens my life; then everything changes. But I will be expecting the attack. Though, even after what seemed like an eternity that passed by, the attack never came. Nothing happened. I focused more on my hearing, trying to hear any indication that there was possible movement around the rest of the house, but nothing ever reached me; no shuffling of clothes, no steps, no nothing. Puzzled, I took a careful step forward, then another. Check on your left; no one. Another step.  
  
The bright light of the flashlight fell over the living room and kitchen, enlightening every small inch of the vast room, casting away the shadows that lurked among the furniture or danced along the walls, throwing terrifying patterns over them, but despite their frightening presence, my mind had already dismissed them and focused on the more important matters. Like the fact that there was no one inside the house; not a single soul was hidden anywhere inside or under the various furniture. The whole house was completely empty, if you excluded my own presence of course. What the…? It can’t be…. No, it can’t be, I was totally sure that I didn’t leave the window open nor did I turn the lights off… but if there was someone in here, then where is he? No more hiding places exist inside this house, so how…. Did he already left? Did he manage to escape? No, I can see the bolt of the door still on the lock, without being disturbed at all, then?  
  
The balcony!  
  
Abruptly, my body ejected itself against the opposite wall, with the gun and the flashlight turning to point at the balcony that spread beyond the windows, only to see it completely empty as well. Small snowflakes were making their way towards the concrete, some of them even reaching inside the apartment, falling gently from the dark skies; a certain signal that there was a blizzard on the way here, since the furious wind dragged them along with him, making the whole scenery appear as if white rain was falling from above. Still, the complete lack of anyone standing in the balcony, eventually made me relax and as a response, I lowered my gun. I was safe once again, but the feeling of dread had yet to pass inside my heart. Maybe it would be best not to turn the lights on right now. Turning the flashlight, I inspected the space thoroughly, searching for any traces that the intruder might have left behind, not bothering to close the window at all. As I pointed at the desk though, my eye caught a glimpse of a piece paper that was on the wall above it. Curiosity penetrated my thoughts and I walked over, grabbing it and bringing it close to the light so I could see it clearly.  
  
Oddly enough, it was a simple photograph of two girls that were posing for the camera, standing in a huge garden that was graced by an ancient weeping willow tree in the background. One of them, the oldest as it appeared, had the palest white complexion I had ever seen on a person and a rather petite figure. Her beautiful dark, cherry red hair formed lively curls that framed her oval face in a sea of red, accompanied by a pair of chocolate brown eyes that withheld the deepest love a person can feel, as she was looking at the little girl in her arms and smiled brightly. She mustn’t have been over eighteen years old and the girl on her hands was surely five years old. Exactly like the first girl, she had white skin, in a healthier tone than the first and had the exact same eyes. Their only difference, was that her hair was straight, reaching down to her waist as she smiled and waved to the camera. They looked so much alike, that it wasn’t that hard to notice that they were probably sisters, but it took me some amount of time to really realize who this little girl was. Because as I stared at her small frame, I knew that she reminded me of someone, until my mind finally clicked; this was Lina Montaige, the younger daughter of the Montaige family. I recognized her from the pictures of her body that Steve showed me yesterday. She looked so alive and adorable in this picture and I knew that the girl beside her must definitely be Anastacia. How did this photo even get here? Who brought it here?  
  
I flipped the picture to see if there were any clues and truly enough, two words were written behind it with red paint.  
  
 _Turn around._  
  
The moment my brain processed these simple two words, I felt like I was being pulled back into the subconscious space of my mind, watching through my eyes as if I was just a distant viewer of my own life. Because the strong tidal wave of fear that washed over me, was nothing like anything else that I had experienced in all these years that I am walking planet earth. I could clearly hear my heart beating loudly inside my chest; the organ was surely ready to jump off and fall on the ground, the very same time that my feet started feeling alien, denying me the choice of moving around at all, as cold sweat bathed me from tip to toe and my eyes opened wide with surprise. Because no, it wasn’t the two simple words that were written on this single piece of paper, nor was it the color red that reminded me of blood. Nothing like that would ever be able to scare me. Unless from this single thing that could do the trick: there was a cold draft of air that was reaching the skin on the back of my neck, the cold touch making me shiver, but I was unable to do anything about it, not even take a single step forward. Why?  
  
Because there was someone blowing his chilly breath on my neck.  
  
There was something standing right behind me.  
  
All alarms inside my mind had gone off long ago, screaming and hitting every surface due to the sheer terror that consumed them; I could feel my own sanity drifting away, but I knew that the same pair of eyes that had spotted me on the street, was now looking on the back of my head, trying to burn away the skin and the bone. I could _feel_ the presence lurking millimeters behind me; I could _feel_ the dark electricity that its skin gave off, only to collide with my own in a dark battle for dominance, with my own soul shrieking and trying to hide as far away as possible. I could _hear_ the inhale and the exhale of its breaths that sounded somehow dual, almost seeing the contractions of its chest, hearing every little rustle its clothes made in the soft wind. Time seemed to seize to exist right then and there and I was left helpless inside the darkness, with the gun shaking inside my hand and my body frozen solid. If desperation could reach a limit with a human being, this was the end of the line for me. I was trapped inside a nightmare, unable to even move, my training having flown out the window. I didn’t know what the creature looking upon me, cornering me with each passing second, wanted but my guts were telling me one single thing that was screamed inside the empty corridors of my mind, an echo of a desperate try to extract any reaction: _Whatever it is, it’s definitely not human_. The thick miasma of madness was twirling all around us like an abyssal mist that threatened to devour everything on its path and there was no way any living creature would ever be able to produce something quite like that. This was not normal….And this couldn’t be happening! This can’t be happening to me! I had been so careful, am I going to….. Am I going to get killed? Am I going to die?  
  
To my utter horror, as this last thought formed inside my mind, my body acted up on its own and started turning to face the dreaded creature. I screamed to myself, I urged my feet to stop their movements, but the only thing I managed to do was to feel hot tears cascading my eyes, dripping down from my chin as I continued on and on. I wanted to close my eyes and spare the hellish sight of the creature and in response my lungs inhaled and grabbed a hold of the oxygen, not allowing the air to leave my body. As I turned even more, I knew I did that in order to scream. Yet I couldn’t stop myself from turning.  
  
One step…  
  
Another step…  
  
I am this close in seeing the creature. Merciful God have mercy…!  
  
I turned and…  
  
No one was there.  
  
I felt the breath leaving my body as if I was in a delirium and my conscience was once again ejected forward, with my soul seizing control of my body once again. I panted loudly, my hands loosening their grip around the gun, leading it to fall on the ground with a faint sound that never reached my ears, as my shoulders leaned forward and I tried to regain my composure. I was alone… I was once again all alone inside my apartment and to my surprise, the windows were now closed. Whatever it was, it had left.  
  
But as I looked up once again, I found that it had left something behind it.  
  
Two more words written with big letters on the wall opposite from me.  
  
_FIND THEM._  
  
  
  
~ * ~  
  
  
  
The moment I passed the front door the very next morning, Steve’s car was already waiting by the side of the road, with the man sitting behind the wheel and looking at me through the mirror as I approached with quick steps.  
  
The day had dawned gloomy and surprisingly dark, since the inky clouds were hanging from the firmament like ominous enemies that threatened with an even more dense snowfall, making the shadows on the edges of every building dance along with the movement of the few trees that decorated the sidewalks, their presence almost alien if you thought about how early in the morning it was; the whole scenery reminded me the near dusk hours and not the cheerful ones of the morning. Snowflakes were cascading down from the skies, their bright white colors filling the place with a mythical aura of wonder, like the ones that legendary tales give you; the strong wind only intensified the penetrating cold, making the very few people that were wondering around the streets to quicken their pace and seek the nearest warm shelter, whether this was a shop, their jobs or a simple cafeteria. I tightened my coat a little bit more over me and wondered if I felt cold because it was truly freezing, or because my body had officially started to wear off from the lack of sleep.  
  
Don’t get me wrong, I did in fact manage to fall briefly into the unconsciousness of sleep last night, but my dreams were nowhere even near being pleasant and always drifted into the dark realm of nightmares, filling my head with images of strange black lions, read-headed girls that were screaming for salvation to come and nightmarish creatures that were breathing hard. All in all, I woke up a few times, bathed in cold sweat and clutching on my bed sheets for seemingly dear life.  
  
Tiredness must have been written all over my face this morning, because the moment I hopped inside the car and closed the door behind me, I saw Steve giving me a questioning look as he handed me a steaming cup of coffee.  
‘Well someone is exhausted today.’ He commented, turning the engine on ‘Don’t tell me you parted hard last night and got wasted.’  
  
I barely even had the strength to answer him, so instead, I took a quick sip of my coffee, feeling the warm liquid reaching deep down in my belly and energizing me immediately ‘You caught me Steve; I was indeed out getting wasted.’ I tried to joke but failed miserably.  
  
‘I told you Catherine’ Steve took a left turn ‘Don’t tire yourself out too much with the case.’  
  
‘So we are going to investigate the house?’ I said, grabbing the file of the case that was in front of me, and opening it, I shuffle through the papers mindlessly. I just wanted the conversation to change; I couldn’t possibly tell him about the nightmares, or the creature, since he would get worried for no reason and pull me out of the case out of fear, something that I could not afford. I was also hesitant of telling him about the photograph.  
  
Steve nodded, completely oblivious of what I was thinking ‘It’s a ten minute drive from here to Binscarth Rd. you can check the files if you want but something tells me that you already checked them through the database.’ He grinned.  
  
‘Your gut is once again correct my friend. And I am also guessing that no one knows we are going at the house, right?’  
  
‘Correct and they do not have to know as well. We’ll also pay a visit to mister Arcen, but let’s try being friendly, since we have no warrant and he still has the right not to talk to us if he doesn’t want to.’ He advised me.  
  
‘I’ll just be my lovely self once again and dazzle him.’ I joked, throwing the file back and drinking some coffee.  
  
‘I was afraid you would say that.’ he retaliated.  
  
The rest of the ride to the house passed in total silence, since Steve never was the one to strike up a conversation first and I was too tired to even try. We ventured through the street with the sound coming from the radio and the traffic to accompany us, but true to Steve’s words, not too long had passed until the car turned to a pretty usual suburban street that was filled with houses. Tall maple trees were arcing high above the road on each side of it and the houses reminded me of the place where I grew up; it was the perfect setting to raise a family here and despite the penetrating cold, kids were running around on their yards, playing with the snow, completely carefree.  
  
I was completely engulfed in my thoughts, until the car pulled to a stop right in front of a certain house. Before Steve even had the chance to turn the engine off, I was already opening the door and passing outside, my head turning to nail my gaze on the house that was on our left. It was your ordinary Canadian suburban house, made out of dark red bricks and with the same metallic casings on the windows as every other traditional house. It had two floors and from where I was standing, I could faintly see a small skylight on the side of the roof, betraying the existence of an attic. The front door was made out of dark chestnut wood that was carved in magnificent patterns that took your breath away; it was also sheltered by a small front porch that protected whoever might be standing there from the weather. The garden that surrounded the house was grand, but the bushes and plants had long ago withered, since no one really took care of them anymore and right on the side of the garden rested the huge weeping willow that I had seen in the picture. It was the only thing that made my stomach tighten uneasily, since the feeling of dread washed over me once again in remembrance of what happened the night before.  
  
A yellow police tape was carefully wrapped around the whole property, preventing anyone from trespassing and notifying them that there was a crime that took place within. I walked over to Steve, who opened the metallic gate of the garden and helped me pass from above the tape before following me himself, as we made our way to the front door.  
  
With each step we took, new waves of discomfort resonated from my heart and I was under the impression that a pair of eyes must be nailed on the both of us; yet it wasn’t the same feeling as yesterday.  
  
‘I hope you brought the key to go inside.’ I murmured, trying to focus on the matters at hand.  
  
‘I thought that you wouldn’t oppose messing with the lock a little bit. It wouldn’t turn out well if I asked Mark to lend it to me.’ Steve said, pulling out a small pocket knife and some other tools, before kneeling in front of the door and start messing with the lock.  
  
‘Not today Steve. Hurry up though.’ I warned, looking over the yard to make sure that no one was watching us.  
  
My sentence was followed by a gentle ‘click’ and the man opened the door wide in front of us, standing up again and both of us walked inside the house.  
  
The first thing that I noticed the moment I stepped in the enormous place, was that no one had been inside for a year or so, since there was a faint layer of dust covering everything; the floor, the various surfaces, literally everything and the door creaked open, reminding me of the moment the protagonists walk inside the haunted house, heading towards their doom, in horror movies. The furniture and stuff of the family were still left inside the house, appearing as if the people were about to come back at any given moment, giving the vast house a haunted aura, like the victims were about to walk by us at any time, their souls trapped forever within these cursed walls, trying to find peace in the afterlife; it was both horrifying and saddening.  
  
Upon further gaze, I was able to take in more of our surroundings; on the right of the small hallway that we were in was a vast living room, where the coffee table was still turned over and broken, while a huge red spot had remained on the wooden floor and the carpet beside it, clear trace of where the mother’s corpse was found, brutally beaten up and mutilated. Right in front of us was a simple wooden staircase that led to the upper floors and on the left of the stairs, was another hallway that seemed to lead to the kitchen and right beside us on the left was the grand dining room. Light was coming through the grad windows of each room, illuminating the place with the eerie grey light of winter; thankfully, the glass on them was a bit foggy, so no one could look inside. For a strange reason, this fact soothed my nerves a bit.  
  
‘Look around you Catherine.’ Steve pulled me out of my thoughts and back into reality ‘Can you see any graffiti or messages on the walls?’  
  
I averted my eyes from the man to the walls that surrounded us. There was not a single word written on them.  
  
‘No, there is nothing. Why?’ I asked.  
  
‘If there was, then we would have a class base uprising; someone would have killed them to prove a point to the people like the family. I would be surprised though if it actually was, because all the families in a one mile radius are exactly like them. Even if they didn’t leave a message behind for the police, they would surely come back afterwards to leave one.’ He commented, standing over the spot where the mother was found.  
  
I followed him to the living room and stood beside him, turning my attention to the dried up blood ‘So it wasn’t the neighbors…’  
  
‘No, police investigated all of them, they all had alibies.’ He sighed ‘Let’s get our facts right one by one though.’ He stood up once again and pointed at the door ‘There was no broken lock when the police arrived, so there was no forced entry. They either tricked them to get inside or the victims knew the killers and let them inside.’  
  
Crossing my hands over my chest, I nodded ‘I don’t think so. It was a Halloween night and kids were out trick-or-treating. Plus, there is no peephole in the door, which only means that this was a safe neighborhood with trusting neighbors.’  
  
‘Aren’t they all? Until someone gets killed and there goes the security.’ The man commented ‘So the mother opens the door and they strike her immediately. The daughters flee to the master bedroom and the killers drag the mother in here, where they finish her off within the next few minutes. If that stands, the girls would have time to run. Unless…’  
  
‘Unless there were more of them. Two take off the mother and another one goes after the girls?’ the pieces where falling in place inside my mind and seeing Steve nod in agreement helped me reassure myself that we were in the right track this time. The clues were finally revealing themselves.  
  
‘These were brutal murders; they reveal that whoever these individuals were, they were holding on to rage and personal spite towards the family. They weren’t family killers though; these folks begin with one victim at a time and not entire families, until they feel capable. They were arrogant in making a move on such a busy night.’ Steve though aloud.  
  
‘If they had a personal spite against the family then they knew that there was no father which explains why they stayed long enough to steal. Feeling comfortable about the absence of the father, they stayed long enough to enjoy the sight of their victims, as well as pocket whatever they could get their hands on.’  
  
‘Good thinking Catherine. Intelligent and filled with rage…’ he seemed to think for a bit, his clear eyes filling with a mist that immediately cleared up when realization dawned on him the very next minute ‘Our killers must be around their early twenties to mid-thirties; it would explain both the arrogance and the rage.  
  
‘So they come here.’ I say as I walk to the closed door, wrapping my hand around the doorknob and opening it ‘Trick the mother to open the door and attack her immediately; the two girls must have been watching from the upper floor, since if they were three or more, they wouldn’t have time to run. The girls run and one or two people follow them to make sure they won’t escape, while two other ones kill the mother, who gives a fierce fight to keep them away if I remember the coroner’s report correctly. They kill her and meet with the rest of their pals that have already killed the girls, only to go on a stealing spree around the house in their sweet time, being more than careful not to leave any fingerprints behind. Because I killed the family to satisfy my personal hate, but why not make some money out of them as well? So, they were definitely under 35. And if they were serial killers, nothing else besides the killings would matter.’  
  
‘Exactly like that. Profit comes with youth and the need to grasp the opportunities that are presented to you.’ Steve comments with a sly smirk ‘Why not go on with the murders of the girls?’  
  
Nodding to him, I make my way up the wooden stairs, that hadn’t been used in quite a while, something that was given away by the small creaking sounds they made with each step we took, the wood rotting away under our feet, but not enough to cause us problems yet. As I was walking up, I could clearly see the scenes of horror that must have unfolded for the family that Halloween night, with the mother walking up to the door and the girls ready to go down the stairs, in hopes for a memorable night; little did they know that it would be a memorable night and it would eventually cost them their lives. Such tragedies are hard when they fall upon families and I couldn’t help but think what would I do if I was in their own feet; losing my sisters and my parents would surely make me wish for death, but I wouldn’t be able to go on without them. There are some things in life that are just impossible to live without and family is one of them.  
  
Pushing the saddening thoughts away from my mind, I threw my gaze over the upper floor, trying to focus back into the case and detach emotionally from it, exactly as Steve told me every time. I sighed and examined the space; it was a vast corridor, paved with a luxurious red carpet that matched perfectly with the dark beige walls. Five doors decorated each of the walls, two on the left, two on the right and one straight ahead. Two of them had the names of the girls written on them, resting opposite from one another, so if I was guessing correctly, the one straight ahead must be the door to the master bedroom, since it was the only one that was completely taken off; the report had stated that they found it broken and removed the pieces for further investigation.  
  
The moment we stepped inside the room, even after one year and a half since the murders happened, I had the strong urge to back away and empty my stomach once again. It wasn’t because of any possible copses or something like that, but it was because of the blood; even one year after the murders, even after the investigations and all the days that passed, it was still pretty clear to see what had been done inside this room. Because there was blood everywhere. Literally everywhere. On the walls around the room, on the floor, on the mattress of the bed and even in the ceiling, with the dark spots leaving a permanent mark on the surfaces and making the haunting aura that they gave off increase. The huge pool of blood that existed on the floor, must have surely been where Anastacia died, if I remembered the reports correctly; even if her body was never found, it would have been impossible for her to live since the perimeter of the blood stain was so vast, that only if her whole blood was poured out of her it would be possible for it to form on such scale. But the most sickening sight was the bloodstain on the wall near the bed; it wasn’t too high up and it consisted of million drops of blood that had fallen on the wall; the blood had came from Lina’s head when she was shot. A kid, barely six years old, had her brains blown out. I didn’t know if I should be angry or disgusted.  
  
Instinctively, I leaned on the door frame for support and tried to focus once again, taking in deep breaths in order not to pass out. I must have been pale as a ghost, because as Steve turned towards me, standing in the middle of the room, his gaze softened and his shoulders relaxed as he spoke.  
  
‘We won’t take long Cath. If you don’t feel alright, you can go out for some fresh air.’  
  
‘I’m alright.’ I cut him off ‘Don’t mind me too much and let’s get this over with.’  
  
‘Okay..’ he mumbled and turned his attention to the room ‘So the girls run in here and lock themselves up. The killers follow them and despite their efforts, manage to break down the door and enter, proceeding to brutally assault Anastacia –maybe even stab her to death- and after that, they shoot Lina dead.’  
  
‘How do we know they hit her?’ I pressed the matter ‘We don’t have the body to examine.’  
  
In response, Steve points at the blood on the walls and ceiling ‘You are right in that theory, but see these stains? They are all Anastacia’s blood. The only blood that belongs to Lina is this spot over here.’ He says and points at the spot I had already listed in my mind.  
  
‘So the brutalities continued with the rest of the family.’ I was barely keeping myself standing straight at this point.  
  
‘In Anastacia yes, but not in Lina. Cameron and Anastacia died of severe blood loss, after being assaulted, but Lina is different; she was killed by a single bullet in her head and then, her body was picked up and rested on the bed with exceptional care. The method of killing changed from the first two girls to the youngest one. Can’t you see Catherine? They spared the little one of the torture, so it shows a certain degree of remorse.’ Steve pointed out, like it was more obvious than the sun.  
  
‘And?’ I shrugged.  
  
‘It says to us that one of them is an introvert with a certain degree of remorse and mercy. The other ones are the dominants, possibly lead by a single leader while this one here, is the one that spares whoever he favors. They could have tortured Lina for fun, but instead this one steps in and ‘saves’ her in a way. They are actually four people involved; I bet that they watched the family for days before they made a move to make sure that they achieved their purpose and also, there is no sexual gratification as far as we know, so their only motive is murder. We have ourselves future serial killers and you can’t convince me otherwise that they have or will strike again.’ His eyes were now lightened up by a fierce flame and in his words, I knew exactly what he meant.  
  
‘If they have, we can track them down easily.’ I exclaimed.  
  
‘Exactly.’ He smiled ‘The only thing we have to do now, is run the information on the police database.’  
  
‘We’ll just have to pay a certain visit before we do though.’ I smirked.  
  
The rest of the house tour passed rather quickly and before I even knew it, we had collected all the evidence we needed and headed back to the car, with quick steps, wanting to get the visits over with and return to our houses for further investigation, now that we had one lead at last. I felt really relaxed by that fact and even the uneasy feeling of being watched had settled inside of me, giving me the space to think clearly. But this relaxation didn’t last for too long, since the moment I was ready to hop in the passenger’s seat, the door from the house opposite opened and a middle-aged lady came rushing out, waving and yelling at us to draw our attention. She must have been around fifty five and her hair that where up in a bun, had already turned white in some spots.  
  
‘Wait officers!’ she yelled as she passed the road, cradling a black tape with one of her hands against her chest and with worry painting her eyes.  
  
‘How can we help you ma’am?’ I asked as she approached me and pointed at both of us.  
  
‘You are investigators right? From the Police Headquarters?’ she asked with a single breath.  
  
I sighed and took my badge off my pocket, showing it to her ‘I’m Cold Cases Homicide detective Catherine J. Wortham and this is my partner Steve Meloc. We are indeed from the Toronto Police Department. And what is your name ma’am?’  
  
Her jaw tightened ever-so-faintly before she answered me, still wide-eyed ‘I’m Alicia Rankel and I live on the house right there.’ she pointed at her house across the street ‘I was there the morning they found Cameron Montaige and her girls dead a year ago.’  
  
Her eyes filled with a sea of tears, as I turned and casted a serious gaze to Steve, who only nodded in response with his face falling on a grim expression ‘So miss Rankel, how may we help you?’ I asked, averting my attention to the lady once again. She was a bit shorter than me, making me look down to meet with her gaze.  
She opened her mouth but mid-way regretted it, closing it back again and giving me the cassette she was holding on her hands with determination passing through her eyes.  
  
‘What is this?’ I asked, curiosity washing over me, as I searched for a label and found none whatsoever.  
  
‘It’s a tape with surveillance videos.’ She responded ‘I had my house protected by cameras, since I was robbed twice last year before Halloween. Neighborhoods in the suburbs aren’t as safe as they used to be back in the days. So, anyway, I was actually looking through the tapes the other day and I happened to fall into this one which recorded the night these sweet girls were murdered. I wanted to come by the Headquarters to give it to you, but since you are here, I thought to give it now.’  
  
My eyes widened in surprise ‘And this is the tape that recorded that night?’  
  
She nodded ‘Yes.’  
  
‘Did you see it? And if so did you notice anything weird?’ I was almost entranced. We were holding valuable evidence, enclosed within this single tape.  
  
She nodded yet again ‘There was a strange silhouette that I don’t believe belongs to any kid, which was heading towards the house. Whoever it was, turned and looked straight at the camera but the image is fuzzy.’  
  
‘It’s okay, we will see what we can do about it. How come no one asked to see those tapes before? Didn’t the police come over?’ I furrowed my eyebrows.  
  
‘They came, but didn’t find the tape. Strangely, it had fallen behind the desk, so it was almost impossible to see.’ She admitted.  
  
‘It’s okay then, we will take it. Thank you for your cooperation.’ I said as I opened the car door once again.  
  
‘Just promise me you will catch those guys.’ She spoke up.  
  
‘I can promise you that, ma’am.’ I said and closed the door behind me.  
  
We left the woman behind us, with me clutching onto the tape and studying it from the outside, trying to see if it could give us any clues as to if it was corrupted in any way, but there was no indication as to that. The conversations between me and Steve filled the close space of the car, since our enthusiasm regarding the new possible source of information only served as to look over the case again and again, talking about the clues and possible scenarios; we didn’t pay much attention to the almost empty road, so I barely noticed when the skies decided to open up and heavy rain started falling down, reducing the visibility in half and making a faint mist start to rise from the ground gently. It was kind of peculiar that it wasn’t snowing yet the weather was still cold, so by the time night fell, it could actually turn into snow. Thinking it further though, I was glad that we had covered the entire field search today, so if it did snow, I would be secluded inside my warm house by this time tomorrow; from this point of view, we were lucky. When the car came to a stop in front of an old apartment building that consisted of three floors, I looked around, taking in the scenery of the more depressed area of Toronto city. The only thing that stood out in the rather old neighborhood was the huge school area that was standing proudly across the street on our right, the yard completely empty and no sign of life coming from the windows. It was your typical suburban school, with the many floors and the dark red brick; some swings could be seen scattered in the yard and a few forgotten basket balls were rotting away here and there. Focusing once again, I mimic Steve as he opens the door and passes out in the torrential rain, informing me that Arcen was living on the third floor, so this would be our stop for today.  
  
But as I started walking over to the other side of the car to reach the sidewalk, raising my coat over my head to protect myself, I felt it.  
  
A pair of eyes buried themselves on my back, so intensely, that I literally felt my skin melting away under it.  
  
Immediately, my head perked up and turned to look behind in order to locate the culprit and surely enough, I saw a shadow of someone standing by the school building, his appearance hidden under the shadows before he backed away a few steps and disappeared towards the back side of the yard. In the sight of the shadow, my mind went completely blank and my feet froze on spot while all my nerves went up in flames, urging me to not lose him from my sight; I was a hundred percent sure that it was the very same one that was watching me all these times….wait…..what if it was the thing that entered my house yesterday? Cou- could that mean that it is following me? Instinctively, my hand went to my gun that was carefully placed on my back pocket, the very same time that my heart accelerated a thousand times more. I was so focused, that I barely heard Steve talking beside me.  
  
‘Did you see that?’ he almost yelled, trying to be heard under the noise of the rain.  
I never turned to look at him as I spoke ‘I’m going to check it out. You go question Arcen and we’ll meet back here.’  
  
Not waiting for him to give me any response whatsoever, I rushed to cross the street as fast as I could, keeping my eyes glued to the spot I saw the figure disappear.  
  
Maybe it was nothing, maybe it was just a janitor that happened to notice our new faces arriving at the neighborhood; it could mean nothing really. Yet I still kept on going, passing the gates and reaching for my gun, I pulled it out, holding it securely inside my two hands; I don’t know if my hunch was right in this case, but I could clearly feel my stomach turning the more I moved closer to the spot that the man had disappeared, tracking him down cautiously enough for him not to notice me. I crossed the road and passed through the gates of the school, my footsteps covered by the noise of the rain as I neared the school building at the same time that my breath hitched and my heart started pounding inside my ears; I tried to calm down as soon as my back touched the wall by inhaling deeply; I couldn’t risk being found out if it was indeed the _thing_ that broke into my house yesterday. Pulling all my courage together, I looked around the corner…  
  
The shadow was moving further down the back yard of the school.  
  
Whoever it was, he had his back turned on me and wasn’t too tall, maybe even around my own height. He was wearing a black trench coat that reached all the way down to the back of his knees and apparently it was far too big to fit with his figure, which I couldn’t make out clearly whether it was lean or muscular, male or female. His head was hidden under the hood of the trench coat and his hands stuffed inside the pockets; other than a few clues, his appearance betrayed nothing more that could help me identify him if I happened to meet him in the future. But I wasn’t going to give up now. His pace was fast and decisive, not paying any attention at all to the rain or small puddles that he came across and he was apparently aware of where he was going; he wasn’t a janitor; I could bet my whole career on it.  
  
Without stopping to give any reasonable thought to it like they taught us in the Police Academy, I already found myself leaving my spot around the wall of the school and following him far enough to not be heard and close enough not to lose him from my sight. My eyes were taking in every little move he or she made, every little detail that could be of use later; I was wondering though how on earth didn’t he notice it.. Or maybe he knew that I was following him all along… Why didn’t he/she do anything about it though?.. Does that mean that whoever this person is, he is leading me to something? The whole world could easily go up in flames right now and I wouldn’t notice a single thing if it didn’t affect the person in front of me. All reason and training went out of the window and all I wanted right now was to see where the person was going, to get the answers that I was longing for. Whoever it was, if he or she turned right now, they would immediately spot me, yet my gun was ready and pointing steadily at their head, in case they tried to either attack me or disappear. I would be getting my answers today, whether he or she wanted it or not; I was tired of all the questions, I was sick of not knowing who did that horrible thing to those lovely girls. I wanted answers and the person in front of me seemed to have them; I was surer about it than whether or not the sun will come out tomorrow.  
  
The person reached the end of the back yard, where two buildings met, and turned to the small alley that must have been there, disappearing from my eyes and trapping himself; now I had him cornered but still, I couldn’t risk running there and drawing attention to anyone that might be watching us or even to him. Not that a gun was too discreet, but it was hard to notice it through the rain if you weren’t standing too close to us. Taking my time to cross the rest of the distance that separated us, I made sure that he wouldn’t leave unnoticed and once I was beside the opening, I pressed my back against the wall once again. This was it; I had him cornered. Let’s see if I can think this through calmly… The safety of the gun is pulled down: check, I am ready to shoot if need be. Steve knows that I am here, so if anything happens, I have someone to back me up: check. There is no other way out of the alley except from this opening: check. He didn’t slip out unnoticed: check. Am I ready? Yes I am.  
  
With my heart pounding loudly inside my head and my stomach turning, I took the last steps that lead me inside the alley, placing myself in his field of vision. My head was clear, my finger ready to shoot and my steps steady and decisive as I exposed myself to the possible enemy. In a split second, my mind took in all the information that it was presented with. Indeed, there was no way out of there and the huge windows that reached far above my head to the six floors of the school were covered by railings that protected them both from anyone coming in, or anyone jumping out. There were a few trashcans on the left side and a few trash on the corners of the dead end, but nothing noticeable.  
  
Which was immediately what I noticed.  
  
The person was gone.  
  
At first, my brain just denied processing this; how could he have escaped without me noticing? It didn’t take me too long into coming here so he shouldn’t have the time to climb all the way to the roof, assuming that he indeed found a way to do so. Then how the hell did he disappear out of thin air, how he managed to escape? He couldn’t have hidden himself inside the trashcans; their lids were hanging open and they weren’t that big to fit a whole person in neither to hide someone behind them, then how did he do it? My hand lowered to my side and my trained thumb turned the safety on as my eyes continued to scan the place up, not really seeing and my lungs letting out a breath I didn’t know I was holding in the first place. I couldn’t believe it. I was so careful and he still somehow managed to escape me. The only lead that might have been able to help us out with the case and it disappeared right in front of my eyes. What would I tell Steve? I know the man wouldn’t criticize me at all, but I knew him long enough to know that he would be disappointed and that was something I wouldn’t be happy about. The case is too tough and without leads or possible suspects as it is and me losing the person would make it all too difficult. And I had only myself to blame. Damn it!  
  
I was so engulfed inside my distressed thoughts that I never really noticed that I was searching around the alley for possible clues. Nor did I notice that I was looking on some big, bold, red letters written on one of the windows right above my head, their tone and handwriting matching the one that had written the message on my wall last night. I didn’t take in that I was looking at them long before my brain realized it. The red paint was dripping down from the rain water that was mercilessly beating it, but the message was all too clear and the moment I blinked and my brain enabled me to realize what was going on, my mouth half opened in both awe and silent horror.  
  
A message was left behind for me once again.  
  
A message in bright red letters.  
  
_TIME IS RUNNING OUT FOR YOUR SOUL._  
  
Something snapped behind me and my head immediately turned to locate it.  
  
Out of the corner of my eye I saw a dark shadow and the next thing I knew, something hard came in contact with the side of my head.  
  
Everything went black.  
  
  
  
~ * ~  
  
  
  
When I came to my senses, I was lying on a comfortable hospital bed surrounded by a few kind nurses, who were running around and messing with my IV and other machines that were connected on me, before noticing that I was awake and proceeding to ask me the routine questions of who I was and if I remembered what happened to me. It didn’t take long for me to realize that I was in the Emergency room of the hospital and once a very pale Steve walked in through the door, accompanied by another nurse, all the memories of what happened the last time I was awake came rushing through my head like a merciless tidal wave. Apparently, someone had hit me hard enough on the head with something blunt to make me pass out, but not enough to cause me a severe concussion, and left me there inside the rain without touching me at all. Steve was the one to find me knocked out on the floor and with blood oozing from the side of my head, when he waited for me in the car but I didn’t show up even after a whole hour. Of course, he had a lot of questions for me and I answered them the best I could, since I didn’t see the stranger and left out the part about the message on the glass. Steve went paler and paler with each passing second of my narration about the incident, but eventually relaxed when he learnt that they weren’t going to keep me in the hospital for the night.  
  
On the way back, he let me know that Arcen didn’t have much information to give and also had a strong alibi for the night of the murders, so we were once again without leads and now that I was attacked, it seemed like there was more to this case than met the eye. Unfortunately, he had to inform the Chief about what happened, but he promised me to cover for me if I didn’t do any other reckless things for tonight. He would hate it if he had to worry about me and deal with the impending anger of the Chief. Seeing him worried sick about the case and really relieved that I was okay, I promised him that, since I could feel the impending headache coming my way slowly but steadily. Promising that he would call me first thing tomorrow morning, he left me at the threshold of my apartment building and drove off towards his own house.  
  
I hadn’t realized how tired I was until I passed the threshold of my house and took off my shoes. The headache was now pounding inside my head, so I knew that I would be unable to do anything but sleep. Groaning in annoyance, I took some painkillers, made sure my door and windows were locked properly, before walking inside my bedroom, changing into some warm clothes and crashing face-first on the soft mattress that welcomed me as one of their own. Not even bothering with the fact that I was kind of hungry, I made myself comfortable among the pillows and before I even knew it, the headache was far behind me and I was drifting away into the dreamland.  
  
I was tired.  
  
So, so tired…  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
Dreams after dreams passed through my mind like very vivid movies that danced around inside my subconscious and thus, it took me a few moments to realize that I was feeling kind of uncomfortable; I had the strange difficulty to breathe properly. Like a heavy weight that was placed on my back and pinned me further down inside the mattress, at first, I was too tired and pulled inside my dream to really pay attention, but after a while my conscience shook violently and tore away from the dream, when the strangest of things happened… someone shifted above me. It wasn’t a new feeling though; I was suffering from sleep paralysis for years now, especially when I was working on a case and the psychologist that I had visited to treat it said that it was only normal when I faced huge amounts of stress at work; it would pass on its own and nothing bad was going to happen to me when they occurred, so if I kept my cool at times like these, then they would become less and less frequent. Steve had joked about it, calling these incidents something along the lines of Mora, Shadow, Incubus, referring to all the legends that surrounded it, but I only laughed along with him at this.  
  
So, pushing away the rest of the thoughts from my mind, I waited patiently for it to pass.  
  
It would only take a few moments…  
  
Okay, maybe minutes…  
  
How long has it been?...  
  
Wait…  
  
I always heard stories from my fellow policemen or from friends and family, about what true terror was, but nothing –and I mean nothing- had ever prepared me for what I would come up against right at that moment. Because as I was lying there, face down and waiting for the sleep paralysis to pass, something quite unexpected happened that threw my mind off balance and allowed my heart to be polluted by sheer terror.  
  
Something _growled._  
  
Something _growled and shifted_ from behind my back.  
  
Suddenly, my mind was set ablaze and my eyes popped open at the same time that my heart started running a marathon and my brain realized the situation I was in.  
  
I could feel _something_ , I could really feel something sitting on my back and throwing its full body weight on me, making the mattress bend even further down from all the extra weight. Its legs were on each side of my waist and the most terrifying thing of all was that my hands -that I was unable to feel previously- were now trapped under two steely grips that were as ice cold as the night outside; the grip came in total contrast with my own boiling skin, as if I was touched by a dead person that had lost all of its body temperature. Because it was somehow and strangely enough a person, if I was allowed to say so, since I could feel each finger on each hand, I could hear the rhythmical breathing that came out rugged and harsh, like someone had tried to rip off their own lungs through their chest. It was low, menacing and utterly sanity drenching, making my want to scream so hard that my vocal cords would be tough. My lungs decided that this was the right time to inhale and the pure stench of blood mixed soil and rain filled my nostrils, making me want to hurl. The grip around my hands was so steely that I found it insane for a person to possess this kind of strength. All alerts went off inside my mind that was screaming for me to move, to DO SOMETHING, but at the very same time, had my whole body frozen.  
  
If the _thing_ that sat on me knew I was awake or not, I knew not. All I could sense right then and there was that this was no ordinary person; as if a dark cloud was following it, the miasma of madness and danger was emitted by every pore of its existence, every single trace that kept its body together.  
  
And then it started to release a low growl, which was so animalistic, that was impossible to be produced by a human.  
  
I felt the mattress give away…  
  
I felt it nearing me…  
  
And it growled straight next to my ear…  
  
I screamed.

  
My eyes opened wide and I jumped upwards on my bed.  
  
The blinding light that was coming through the windows was so clear and white, that for a moment I didn’t realize where I was or what was I doing there. My eyes were unable to adjust and for a moment, a terrifying moment, I was left like a deer in headlights, unable to react due to the sheer terror and the inability to take in my surroundings due to the pure whiteness that surrounded me. My heart was pounding so hard inside my chest, that my lungs were practically struggling for a single breath of the refreshing air; the sirens had long ago went off inside my head, screaming with all their might and reacting to the monster that had attacked me and rendered me unable to think straight and react properly. Why wasn’t I dead? The light that surrounded me could serve as a proof that I was dead long ago and my soul passed to the afterlife, falling victim to the monster that had crept its way inside my very own house; yet my beating heart was a very proof that this wasn’t it.  
  
And then, I blinked my eyes once again and my vision was restored.  
  
From all the things inside this world, from all the things I expected to see, the things I expected to encounter, nothing prepared me for the fact that all that I would see was my very own room. It was so strange, that my brain refused to take in all the information at first; what on earth was happening? Why was everything exactly as I left it, with pretty much nothing betraying the presence of my night visitor? There was no sign of entrance, since the window was locked and the door was also closed; there was no sign of mud or blood on my covers and everything was in the exact same place that I left it before going to bed last night. Even my own body had no signs of the steely grip that had grabbed me violently in order to keep me still. I didn’t know what was happening; I was so sure that the monster was inside my room, that I could easily bet my very own life on it. There was no possible way for it not to leave any mark behind.  
  
But then it occurred to me: I didn’t check the rest of the house.  
  
Throwing my covers to the side I almost tripped and fell as I literally ran to the door, grabbing the doorknob and opening it so hard, that I almost heard the hinges complain; I didn’t care, I just wanted some answers even if that meant that I was walking straight into a trap. I ran in the hall and once I was in front of the living room, my feet skidded to a stop and my knees gave out, making me kneel on the cold wooden floor. This time it wasn’t a message written in red paint, neither a photograph nailed on the wall.  
  
It was nothing.  
  
Nothing at all.  
  
Nothing was amiss inside the living room and that was what threw me off the edge; my vision became nothing more but a blur and hot tears cascaded my cheeks, the moment a violent sob reverberated from deep within my chest. My hand touched the floor in order to stop my body from falling completely down, as I cried harder than ever before in my life.  
  
I wasn’t crazy; nothing in the previous years of my life ever questioned whether my sanity was under question. But right now, as I looked upon my untouched house, I couldn’t help but think that maybe I had finally gone mad; nothing other than that could explain that there was no trace left behind by the monster, not a single clue that could betray its existence other than my racing heart and the terror I felt. Everything was as spotless and clean as I left it and all the doors and windows were safely shut, only allowing the penetrating light from the day outside to creep its way inside the house, offering traces of warmth inside the cold, winter day. Still, it wasn’t enough to reach my own conscience from where it had fallen. It couldn’t be a lie; I couldn’t just imagine this. I could precisely feel its hands tightening around my own and the deep growl that it purposely released near my ear. The foul smell was still reaching my nose and the aura of madness was still sending shivers down my spine. How could such a presence not leave a trace behind? Was I going mad? Had the stress and pressure that I had endured up until now drenched my sanity away? Was I really made to become a police officer? And the most important of them all… was the monster real or not?  
  
It surely felt real.  
  
But maybe it wasn’t.  
  
Suddenly my phone started ringing and I yelped at the sudden sound. Blinking away the tears, I picked myself up from the floor and went to answer it, loosely registering that it was Steve that was calling me; he must have been worried about me and for just once, I couldn’t blame him at all. Would it be a good idea to tell him though?  
  
‘Hello?’ my voice sounded hoarse even to my own self.  
  
 _‘Good morning Cath. You sure sound like a zombie today.’_ Steve’s voice chirped from the other side of the line, muffled a little bit by the noise of the busy streets.  
  
‘It’s nice to hear you too Steve. Where are you going this early in the morning?’ I breathed out, walking over to the kitchen for a nice cup of tea; I would have chosen coffee, if I didn’t need to relax so much.  
  
_‘Cath, it’s almost eleven.’_ Steve laughed _‘I’m paying a visit to our little friend in jail, James Lorens, leader of the Snakes; I had been thinking about what you told me about Andrew’s past enemies and I decided to check on him. I thought that you needed some sleep after yesterday, so I didn’t tell you anything. Sorry about that.’_  
‘It’s okay, I wouldn’t have come either way; my head still hurts.’ I confessed, deciding right at that moment that maybe it was better not to tell him anything; he didn’t have to worry, plus I knew that he was more experienced in questioning than I was.  
  
Steve remained silent for a moment, in which I could clearly hear the road around him and when he finally spoke, I immediately knew that he was smiling _‘Who are you and what have you done to Catherine?’_ he joked.  
  
‘Very funny Steve, is there anything you want me to do from here?’I sighed, resting my left hand on my waist.  
  
_‘Can you check that videotape we got from that neighbor? See if you can get something from it.’_  
  
‘I will get down to it immediately and let you know. If you find out anything, call me as well.’ I said and hung up, leaving the man to deal with his own business.  
  
Sighing loudly, I closed my eyes and tried to relax for a split second, resting the phone against my chest and allowing my thoughts to wonder off towards any possible direction. I didn’t quite understand if the uneasy feeling deep down in my gut appeared last night or I had it since we received this case, but right now, as I closed my eyes and finally allowed my instincts to surface, I knew that it was there, a constant companion through this particular journey and, allow me to tell you this, I didn’t like it one bit. There was _something_ going on with this case and I knew that it had nothing to do with the monster that plagued me at nights; this could easily be a creation of my vivid imagination, or simply something I myself created to deal with the difficulties. No, this uneasy feeling had nothing to do with all that.  
  
It was the case that felt uneasy. Why? Because it felt so… real… to me. Like it could pretty much happen to anyone, either that was me, Steve, the family next door, or a random family across the globe. It was something that could easily happen and what drove me crazy, was the fact that the killers might never be caught. Like this particular thing might be happening to a family right now and we would never know and we can’t stop it. It was the reality of it that was so terrifying.  
  
Eventually, I just sighed once again and opened my eyes, walking up to my computer and turning it on with an annoyed grimace before I sat in front of it; it wasn’t the right time to be sulking right now, especially when I had so much work to do; I would examine the tape, notify Steve and then pass a nice afternoon with a home-cooked meal and a nice glass of wine before going to bed. I really needed the relaxation time and since the opportunity presented itself, I wouldn’t deny it. I usually wasn’t the one to slack off, but it seemed like the right thing to do right now. Rummaging through my desk drawers, I discovered the small devise I had kept for seeing videotapes, so I plugged it in the computer and placed the videotape in, waiting for the small window to pop up a few seconds later and clicking on the only file I could find.  
  
Another window appeared and the same street that I had found myself in yesterday appeared, with a small clock on the top right corner, indicating the date and hour. Resting my head on my left hand, I started going through the video in order to find the particular date that interested me, skipping through the parts that had nothing to do with my search. Soon enough, I saw the date changing to 31 of October 2014 and once the sun disappeared, I stopped the fast forward and began observing. It was your typical friendly neighborhood and with all the trick-or-treaters going around, no one could ever imagine the horror that would take place in a few hours. From where the camera was positioned, I could clearly see the front yard of the Montaige residence, as well as the road. The house was brightly lit and people dressed in costumes wandered around, completely consumed by the magic hanging in the air. People of every age were coming and going and I could have sworn that I caught a glimpse of Anastacia or Cameron passing by one of the windows. For a split second, I had completely engulfed myself in trying to see the girls, that it took me a bit until I realized that a pick-up truck had stopped right in front of the house.  
  
The time was approximately five minutes to one o’ clock in the morning and a dark truck stopped right outside the Montaige threshold. Subconsciously, I leaned towards the computer screen more, but the video was blurry enough not to allow me to make out either the precise color of the car or the license plates in the back. Oddly enough, the street seemed to be empty, as the four doors opened and five people stepped out of the vehicle. They were too tall and muscular to be either teens or females, and despite the poor video quality, I could see one of them carrying a baseball bat on his shoulder as he looked upon the Montaige residence. Then, the fifth one stepped out of the car and looked straight into the camera. I cursed under my breath for making out only a few spots of white on his clothes and face, but I already knew what I should do.  
  
Needing not to see any more of the video, I marked and copied the said part and opening another tab, I connected with the police database, searching for the video alteration programs and soon enough, pasting the part and allowing the system to start analyzing it. This would surely take me a while –especially since I didn’t want to be found out- so picking myself up, I decided to go around with the chores of the house. It was surely a nice way to take my mind off things and while Steve seemed to be pretty occupied with visiting the prison, I had plenty of time to spare in my hands. So when the processing of the video finally ended, the time was already six in the afternoon and the sun had gone down for quite a while now.  
  
I took a seat in front of the computer yet again and clicked on the analyzed video.  
  
Once again, I was unable to make out the license plate of the car, yet I did recognize the brand, since the silver letters on the side that read _Ford_ , where kind of the trademark of the company. The faces of the rest of the men that stood next to the car continued to be blurry; well, all except the one that was looking straight into the camera. From his posture and lean but muscular built, he appeared to be around his late-teens, early twenties. He had the average height for a man and he had short, messy brown hair; that was all the characteristics I could see, since the man was in a costume. And not just any costume: a skeleton from the Day Of The Dead; or like some might know, the Dia De Muertos.  
  
Grabbing my notepad, I started writing down all the details that I had found.  
  
The man was dressed from head to toe in a completely black outfit that made the painted white bones stand out, as well as the makeup that covered his face; if I remembered correctly, Dia De Muertos is a Mexican holiday celebrated throughout Mexico, in particular the Central and South regions; still, it is acknowledged in other cultures as well. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died and help support their spiritual journey. Could that mean that the man was of Mexican origin, or that he chose this particular outfit knowing that they were going out to kill an entire family, thus choosing it to help the souls pass to the afterlife?  
  
_No, this is too farfetched Cath_ , I scolded myself. Still, by the dark clothing worn by the rest of the gang, maybe they too chose to dress up like this.  
  
My train of thoughts was briefly interrupted by the ringing of my phone. Picking it up, Steve’s tired voice greeted me from the other line; he had spend his entire day speaking to Lorens and he had come up with nothing at all, since the man hadn’t called anyone that was of interest in a very long time; he only had one phone call per month for God’s sake. The prison director had even allowed him to listen to the recorder calls of the man, but other than his wife, he hadn’t talked with anyone, let alone say something that we could use. From the sound of Steve’s voice, he was a bit disappointed to say the least and not even the things I discovered helped to make his day a little bit. So, we agreed to call it a day for now and meet up tomorrow to discuss what would our next move should be.  
  
When we hang up, I turned off the computer and decided that it was a good opportunity to go for some grocery shopping if I wanted to have a relaxing night tonight; maybe on my way back I could stop to buy some bath salts to have a nice bath before bed. So, throwing a warm jacket on and grabbing my bag and car keys, I stepped out of my apartment, locking the door and walking swiftly towards the elevator. Thankfully for my good mood, miss Cook had retreated to her own apartment for the night, so the lobby was currently empty. Passing outside, my head turned to gaze upon the dark sky that was illuminated by the city lights.  
  
The weather outside was as cold as if we resided near a steep mountain that was covered by snow and frost; my hands tightened instinctively around myself and my breath came out as nothing more than a small cloud of vapor, shining like a silver mist inside the darkness. Despite the penetrating cold though, the heavy rain that was cascading the skies hadn’t turned into snow, something that was quite peculiar if I was allowed to say. The once busy streets were now completely empty and no soul could be seen walking on the sidewalks, giving me the strong feeling that I had just stepped inside a ghost town, where no living soul resided and danger lurked inside each and every shadow, where all the nightmarish creatures existed. Even the illuminated clouds that hanged above me, formed monstrous images as the lights fell on them, offering a red tint to the silent night.  
  
I shook my head. This wasn’t the time to be thinking about these things, I am trying to relax and this is definitely not helping.  
  
Pulling the hood of my jacket over my head, I begun to walk quickly towards my car, trying not to slip on the slippery sidewalk and ignore the rain all at the same time, pressing the button that turned the locks of my car off, opening the car door and passing on the driver’s seat fast.  
  
Once I was inside the protection of the small space, I leaned back on the seat and pulled my hood off, sighing loudly before placing the keys into the ignition and throwing my bag on the passenger’s seat. I was so engulfed inside my own thoughts that I barely registered the white flash that my vision caught from the corner of my eye. I almost missed it. But even that small thing was enough to peak my brain’s curiosity, which tilted my head almost immediately in order to inspect the strange thing, since my eyes nailed themselves on the said spot. And right there, under my bag, was a small, transparent DVD case with a disk inside and a white paper resting lazily on top of it; the flash must have been caused by the streetlights that fell on the DVD. If I was a character from a comic book, a question mark would appear over my head, but even without it, my eyebrows rose in curious surprise and my hand went to grab the two items, bringing them close to me for further inspection.  
  
Examining the DVD first, it was obvious from the start that it was both brand new and untouched; the casing wasn’t worn out at all and a simple date was written with beautiful cursive letters: 11-08-2014 . Nothing more. I would have been disappointed, if I didn’t proceed with opening the small piece of paper that was neatly folded in two and hadn’t found out that the letters continued on, giving me some piece of information that made my head skip a bit: The answers to all of your questions are in Mount Pleasant Cemetery. Hurry up. There is no time left.  
  
Whether it was the cemetery address, the warning about the time or the fact that I couldn’t understand how these objects found their way inside my very own car that triggered all danger alerts inside my mind, I didn’t know, but the processing of the words from my brain had a chain reaction with my heart, who started pounding loudly inside my chest, ready to pop out and onto the floor. My eyes averted towards the street and buildings around me, trying frantically to discover who might have left these things for me to find, yet whoever it was, he was long gone and the whole place around me continued to be completely empty, raising the hairs on the back of my neck and making a shiver shot down to my spine; this wasn’t good. I didn’t like this one bit. What should I do?! It would be pure madness to go there all by myself and in the middle of the night, yet something told me that whoever this person was, he knew about the case I was working on. Could this all be another trap, like the one that I had fallen into just yesterday? Maybe it was, but if it wasn’t? Was I willing to let important information slip through the cracks and disappear, taking the solving of the Montaige case along with them inside the shadows?  
  
Pressing my lips together in dismay, I opened the glove compartment with determination, grabbing the spare gun that I always kept in there for a time of emergency, opening the magazine to check that it was loaded, before placing it back and turning the safety off. Okay, I would try this lead only once and if it is a trap, there is a pretty nasty surprise waiting for those idiots and I couldn’t care less if I got suspended; I was no fool and after yesterday, there was no way to go there unarmed or let another shadowy figure attack me. Checking to see if my phone had enough battery, I set it so it would call Steve after a span of two hours, in case something happened to me and I couldn’t call, before turning the engine on and driving off towards the Cemetery.  
  
There goes my calm and relaxing afternoon, it flew out the window; still, the case was more important than my personal calmness and that was the thought that prevailed in my mind as I stepped on the accelerator even more, literally racing through the empty city streets and minimizing the journey time, while trying to convince myself that there was nothing to worry about and paying attention to the rain that made driving even more difficult. Pleasant Cemetery was right in the middle of the town and even if it was extremely cold, it was sure that they would have a guard walking around to avoid any inconveniences. Plus, it also had walking paths for the visitors, so as long as I stayed in the said paths, it was bound that I would be just fine. Or at least I hoped so. No! This isn’t the time to think negatively. Either I was indeed going to find the clues, or someone was going to end up like Swiss cheese tonight!  
  
So, when I finally pulled the car to a stop right in front of the Yonge Street Gate, which was the cemetery entrance and next to the visitation center, the adrenaline and determination mixture that was coursing through my veins was so strong, it was polluting my mind and conscience, flowing in abundance inside my veins like a true drug and fueling me dangerously more and more with each passing second. Stepping out of my car, I immediately showed my badge to the night guard that was coming towards me and pulled my hood up, sheltering my head away from the rain as I walked hastily through the grand gate which towered well above my head and pulled out my gun, holding it carefully inside my right hand as I turned the flashlight of my phone on with my other one. My feet were sinking inside the various potholes that lingered around the paved paths, allowing the cold water to penetrate my shoes, yet I barely even noticed it as I approached the huge board that had the map of the cemetery placed on it, enabling the visitors to know where they were supposed to go.  
  
In my case, I literally had no idea what I was looking for, only some speculations, but as I shone the light of the flashlight on the huge board, a small red circle was illuminated immediately, pointing towards the other side of the cemetery and to a certain grave, which I had some ideas as to whom it belonged to. Still, as I looked towards the path that led there, the path to my left, all I could see was the piercing darkness looming around the gravestones like a heavy curtain that enveloped everything inside, allowing no light to come out. It was a soul drenching, dream haunting scenery and surely no place for a sane person to walk on at this time of the night; even I questioned my own sanity, but the need for answers overpowered my fear and I clenched my jaw, memorizing the path and immediately started walking towards it.  
  
No one can really understand how terrifying nature can be, until he finds himself inside of her in the complete darkness. Inside a moonless night, the night that the darkness prevails like a true abyss and we discover that we are more vulnerable than we thought, as if we are completely naked inside a sea of foes; every shadow can hide an enemy, every dark place can bring calamity and death. All those thoughts were passing through my mind as I walked more and more on the path that would take me to the answers I needed. Because even with my flashlight on, I couldn’t see; I was barely walking to begin with.  
  
The heavy, ice cold rain and the humidity it brought along with it had served to raise a strange, silver mist from the ground, that was lurking among the tombstones like a predator that was stalking its prey, waiting for the right moment to strike; it was only adding to the haunting scenery that was already terrifying to begin with; the various pine trees that were mixed here and there with a few willows and even maple trees, were so heavy by their branches and leaves –the ones that still held on to them- that they were almost touching the cold soil underneath them, tightly holding on to their shadows, offering them a secure place for them to grow and devour everything around them. No light was coming from anywhere around the cemetery and the darkness was so thick, that I could easily feel it gliding lazily over my clothes, stroking the exposed skin of my face and serving to accelerate my heart beat, as my brain was screaming in terror inside the vast spaces of my mind, trying to make me return back to safety. I could see nothing around me and my vision was limited on the few meters that were illuminated in front of me from my flashlight.  
  
Complete silence was the second thing that threw my brain off the edge of any reasonable thought, turning all the danger switches off inside of me. There was no sound coming from the rain that poured down from the vast skies, no sound coming from the strong wind that was coursing maniacally through the trees, making them wave frantically, completely obeying to its commands and even no sound coming from my very own breath and footsteps; it was as if all nature had seized its movements, allowing the void to take over and deny the bliss of sound to my ears. At that point, and considering the place I was in, I couldn’t decide if I would prefer some sound or not; if sound was dangerous and silence was what protected me. In the end, I decided that silence was best, since if a sound came from any of the gravestones that spread around me in an endless sea of white and grey, it would only serve to give me a heart attack and kill me on the spot.  
And so I walked.  
  
I walked and walked and walked endlessly on the paved pathway that was indicated to me by my anonymous source, venturing into the abyss in search for the few clues that would help us bring justice and peace to the poor victims. Centuries could have passed me by and I wouldn’t notice it at all. The gun was steadily pointing in front of me and my hand that was holding on to my phone was resting on it, offering me some light and giving me some peace of mind, that whatever and whoever came my way, I was prepared to deal with it. All the training I got in the academy passed like a movie right in front of my eyes and my senses where stretched to their limits in order to notify me if anything was _too_ strange, as I walked further down. Nothing seemed to alter in the scenery around me and the more I walked the less I felt safe, my instincts screaming to me that something wasn’t right in all this. I passed marvelous and hauntingly dark gardens, fountains that still poured water out and many statues that must be beautiful in the morning but served as nightmare fuel at night, yet I never stopped walking.  
  
That was, until a glimpse of a faint light pulled my feet to a stop.  
  
My head immediately jerked to the left, trying to find the source, with my flashlight and gun following its route soon after. The cold light fell on the nearby trees and tombstones, illuminating a small spacious opening among the trees, where two graves were resting, one close to me and the other one further back among the tree line. Indeed, there was a small ray of light coming through the door of the unsettling mausoleum that appeared to be half opened, allowing only the light to make its existence known to anyone that happened to pass by. Suddenly, I realized that I knew this particular mausoleum; it was the famous Eaton Family Mausoleum with the marble lions made by the sculptor Eli Harvey. It was one of the most known mausoleums, due to the family’s prestigious name, which made the said place a tourist attraction that everyone who visited Toronto knew. And the light was coming straight from there; something that wasn’t quite normal.  
  
  
Sparing one last gaze towards the rest of the road ahead of me, I decided on a whim that this was something in desperate need to be investigated, so turning on my heel, I started walking fast towards the breathtaking structure, with my feet squelching through the muddy soil. Before I even knew it, I was checking my surroundings for any prying eyes, before nearing the mausoleum. The more I walked towards it, the brighter the light became, calling me towards it to see what was happening; at this time of the night, nothing around here should have any light.  
  
I literally flew up the few steps, paying no attention to the magnificent lions that guarded the place and I neared the heavy iron gate which was indeed half opened, staying absolutely still and quiet, so I would be able to hear any sound of movement coming from the inside. There was none. Closing my phone, I grasped the gun with both hands, before I took in a steady breath and slipped inside the building, immediately raising my gun in case someone that I didn’t notice attacked me. Yet, as I passed to the narrow interior that hosted the family’s graves on both sides of the small hallway, there was no trace of any living soul there at the moment. And I say it like that because there were traces that someone was actually living there.  
  
An extremely worn out blanket was thrown messily on the cold marble floor among the rotting leaves and branches that were left in here since the fall, and the light I saw from the path was actually coming from a small white candle that was placed on the floor, its flame bathing the small room in a strange orange light, allowing weird shadows to grace the tall walls. There was a faint breeze that was coming through the skylight that adorned the ceiling and for once, I could clearly hear the wind howling outside the place; still, not even the faint breeze was enough to dissolve the foul smell of rotting flesh and decay that prevailed, making my stomach turn and my mind struggling not to allow me to gag. Mallows were growing here and there, yet as I turned my gaze to the left, nothing inside the room mattered any more as the thing I saw painted on the white wall.  
  
If I had to describe it in a way, I would say that it was by far the weirdest and most unnerving symbol I had encountered in all my life. It was clearly painted by hand, with the red paint dripping every here and there and leaving a mark of the fingers in other parts, taking up the whole place from the ceiling to the floor with its grand design. The bottom part was kind of oval, with the bottom edge a bit pointed; the head of it was occupied by a strange crown with seven rounded edges on the top and the middle of the oval was adorned by a strange cross, whose top was strangely prolonged to reach the middle of the crown, before dividing itself into two parts –one that was on the left and one of the right- that formed perfect circles on the edge, exactly like the two circles that existed on each side. No words were written around it, except only one: _Viné._  
  
Suddenly, I didn’t want to be in there anymore. Suddenly, dread, terror and utter horror pierced through my heart like a sharp, destructive arrow, making me want to scream till my lungs failed me and making me want to run until I could no longer stand up; it was a rather strange and unexpected feeling, which send shivers down my spine and urged me to get as far away from this symbol as it was humanely possible and this time, I was in no position to oppose my instincts. Taking my phone out, I took a few pictures of the whole place and before I even realized it, I was running away from the mausoleum and towards my path, deciding that every other place was safer than the one I was in. This time, I was literally running on the path, determined to follow it till the end, not minding the darkness around me at all, or the heavy rain.  
  
I only stopped when I reached the very end.  
  
Allowing my mind to forget what I had encountered back in the mausoleum by pushing the dreadful thoughts away from my mind, I walked the last steps which led me to the very end of the path, moving aside the branches of a nearby willow and walking inside a small, isolated clearing that served as the resting place of only one single grave. Looking around me it was clear enough that once spring would come around, this little place must surely be the most hidden and peaceful spot in the cemetery, completely hidden among the rest of the willows that surrounded it in a small circle, their huge trunks offering a certain degree of isolation; even now, if you failed to follow the path, you wouldn’t find it. The rain continued to fall down from the sky and the small drops of water danced on the grey stone of the tomb, whose letters became clearer and clearer as I approached it. Shining the light on the cold surface, the letters immediately appeared on the stone, offering me the chance to read them and prove my deepest assumptions.  
  
It was only a plain tombstone, with no engravings or other decorations, except from the letters written on it and a small vase for the flowers right in front of it; all in all, it was in the height of my waist. Standing right in front of it, I read out loud.  
  
  
Montaige. In loving memory of Andrew Montaige Mar.3.1964 – Apr.13.2013 who was killed on the line of duty, beloved husband of Cameron Montaige May.17.1971 – Oct.31.2014. Anastacia Montaige Mar.28.1995 – Oct.31.2014 and Lina Montaige Aug.8.2008 – Oct.31.2014. You will be dearly missed.  
  
This was it; this was the grave of the Montaige family. I couldn’t understand why, but even by looking at this cold piece of stone which held the whole lives of an entire family that was lost from this world forever, it made me incredibly sad to even gaze upon the simple letters. To gaze upon the simple dash among the dates that represented their entire life span, the time they walked the earth before they passed to the Kingdom of Heaven. And even if you excluded the parents, loosely justifying their death to the many years of life they managed to live, you were brought to tears once you saw how young the two girls that died were. What had they done to deserve this punishment? What God was up there judging in a fair manner who shall live and who shall die? I was always the one to believe in the existence of a Higher Being, no matter what its name was, yet it was enough for a single child to be lost for us to question even Him. And this was one of those times; one of the times that I really regretting getting into the Police Force. Still, there was no room left for me to be sentimental; I had to do my job and my job was to find out who killed those innocent people with such brutality. And that was exactly what I was going to do. Wiping the edges of my eyes with the back of my hand from the tears that threatened to fall, I leaned down right in front of the tombstone, searching for any clues; it was obvious that no one was around here to give me the info, so they must have left them behind. And I was right. Right next to Anastacia’s name, there were letters written with a black marker, so small and faint, that it was easy to miss them if you weren’t close enough; bringing the flashlight closer to them, it was a bit hard to read at first, due to the water that had washed them away, yet in the end, I managed to make them out. That was when I realized that they weren’t just words…. they were names.  
  
Steven, Billie, Paul, Carl and Eric.  
  
As realization hit me like a brick wall, I rushed to open my phone and photograph the names; my mouth fell open and a happy laugh came out, sounding loudly inside the total silence, but I couldn’t care less. Because I could bet my career –no!, I could bet my very own life on it, that those were the names of the murderers. How they found their way on the tomb or who wrote them there in the first place, I had absolutely no clue about it and right then, I didn’t care at all. This was the lead that me and Steve wanted; this was what was going to help us solve the case! If I was at home, I would jump up and down from my sheer happiness, yet I still threw my hands in the air over my head; it wasn’t a mistake to come here after all! Steve was going to be ecstatic!  
  
I was violently pulled away from my thoughts when the sound of a twig snapping broke through the silence.  
  
In the blink of an eye, pure terror washed over me and my brain stood still, allowing a strange numbness to take over every inch of my body as I stood up and pierced the thick darkness with my gaze, trying to find from where the sound came; it was clearly coming from right in front of me, among the shadows that prevailed over the tomb, but despite the light that fell from my phone, I was unable to locate who or what was the cause of it. There was nothing surrounding me but darkness. I swallowed hard, trying to listen to any indication that someone was approaching, raising the gun and pointing carefully in front of me, ready to shoot at any given time; I was too far inside the cemetery for anyone to be wandering around and too far for any chance of someone helping me.  
  
I was all alone…  
  
No, I wasn’t alone at all…  
  
I wished that just like when I came here, I would be alone, but this time, I knew that there was someone or something lurking around me inside the darkness. I could hear it in the way the wind coursed through the trees; I could see it inside the darkness that appeared to move on its own. But more importantly, I could _feel_ it on the raised hairs in the back of my head, on the shivers that were shooting through me from top to toe and in the sudden stillness of my heart, which had gone completely cold and immovable, like if it feared that a single beat would be the end of me. Whatever it was, it was moving in circles around me, making the few leaves that still remained on the ground to crunch and some more twigs to snap and in response, my heart tensed with each sound that reached my ears, at the same time that my own brain was screaming bloody murder. Suddenly, the all-too-familiar pair of eyes found and nailed themselves on me, like a predator that is stalking its prey lazily, paying no attention that I had the means to protect myself this time; I remained completely still, looking straight ahead and above the tomb, waiting patiently for the _thing_ that was watching me to make its move as I had the slight sense that it had stopped right there. How I knew that? I couldn’t answer that myself. It seemed like the most ancient instincts of self preservation were awakened inside a human, once he found himself in a dire situation, making him able to feel even the slightest change in the air around him, sensing the lurking danger. This time though, I wasn’t going to let it terrify me; I was going to face it head on, even if in the mere thought my knees felt weak and my head light. But I would stand my ground. I would fight!  
  
Then, right in front of me, a few meters away from the tomb and among the trees, two orange gems flashed.  
  
Never in my whole life had I seen such a vibrant orange color. As if two fires were burning inside each gem, they shone brightly among the shadows, coming in complete contrast with the lack of any color around them; and for a good cause if I am allowed to say, since any other color would have simply spoiled the royal orange color. And the two gems were indeed a pair of eyes; in their sight, I relaxed and finally breathed out the breath I never knew I was holding. Why? Because the eyes belonged to a cat. They appeared close to the ground and their pupils were slit, just like the ones cats have or even panthers. Lowering my gun, I almost allowed a chuckle to leave my lips, feeling the tension leaving my body; I was safe, there was nothing to worry about, it was simply my own imagination. Silly me! Well, the laughter was soon brushed away and turned completely cold on my lips, since the eyes took a step forward… and raised themselves in the air, coming to stand on the same height as me.  
  
I knew right at that moment, that since I didn’t die right there, right now, I would never have a heart attack in my entire life; this time, my heart completely stopped and all I wanted to do was to scream and run as far away from here as possible. I couldn’t deal with this, I wanted to get away but my very own body chose to betray me, freezing me on spot and under the steady orange gaze that didn’t seem to blink at all as it looked upon me. I didn’t need my brain to understand that I was in big trouble; I could feel the creature gazing upon me with pure, unstained malice and hatred, melting away my skin and bones and reaching all the way down to my innocent soul, with the intend to devour it. The miasma of madness and danger was flowing in waves towards me, hitting my skin and drenching my sanity more and more with each passing second that I was unable to move. Tears rolled down my eyes and a sob surfaced from my chest. I had finally come face to face with the monster. And I was going to die. My time had come. I was about to be killed by the monster that plagued me for two days now and I couldn’t do anything but watch as the eyes tilted to the side, studying me like I was some kind of rare prey and smiling…. Oh, I knew that it was smiling; I would bet everything on it.  
  
Then…  
  
It took a step forward….  
  
And another…  
  
I watched helplessly as it took a step towards me and then another, before a flash shone and a grin appeared inside the complete darkness that was illuminated by the orange light. Then, a deep, dangerous and deranged chuckle reached my ears, deafening me even if it was low. No matter how much my brain struggled, I couldn’t make out any of its features, other than the grin and the eyes; and frankly I didn’t know if I wanted to see more.  
  
The monster took another step, ready to pass inside the small clearing.  
  
A loud bang was heard…  
  
And to my complete shock, the creature backed away, letting out a hellish scream of pain that sounded like two demonic voices screaming at the very same time; I was sure that the sound alone would be quite capable of turning any sane man insane. But what caused the monster to back away? My eyes looked down, only to see my finger tightening itself on the trigger of the gun; I had shot the monster and didn’t even realize it. Still, the most amazing thing was the fact that it had both worked and served as to break the spell that made me unable to move, restarting my brain and throwing me into motion: I had to get away right now! Without as much as another glance towards the nightmarish creature, my body acted up on its own, turning and starting racing towards the path, not just as fast as I could run, but even far beyond that.  
  
My feet landed against the soft ground with power, catapulting my body forward with immense speed; my right hand was still holding on to the gun tightly and the only thing that prevailed inside my mind was the need to run. I was looking forward towards the paved path, never even understanding that the soil under my feet was filled with puddles; all that mattered right then was to get away. My heart pounded hard inside my ears, blocking out all the sound and my teeth clenched with sheer power, pushing my existence forward and towards the only way to salvation. The whole world could have easily gone up in flames and I wouldn’t even give a damn as I raced through the tombstones; time seemed to stop around me and my brain analyzed the situation like it was in slow motion, screaming loudly when I heard a psychotic and soul-drenching scream of maniacal anger coming from somewhere behind me; I didn’t need to look back to know that the creature was coming after me. I just didn’t know how fast it could run. I had the lead, but for how long? My brain went completely clear all of the sudden, setting me free from any pestering thoughts and allowing me to think about a possible way out. It mattered not if my lungs had already started to burn me and my heart to beat dangerously fast; I had to get away.  
  
Suddenly, a pair of hands wrapped around my waist and the _thing_ bite on my neck so hard, that I could feel the blood surfacing and dripping down almost immediately and the teeth almost cutting off the flesh completely; a heavy body crashed against mine with immense power and I barely had the time to let out a bloodcurdling scream before my face came in contact with the hard floor. My hands flew out of instinct to protect my face, as both it and I rolled out of the paved road, with my screams echoing hard on the silent cemetery; various cuts from the rocks that grazed my skin appeared and my already hurt head crashed so hard on a nearby rock, that everything around me became nothing but a blur and I almost passed out. The monster growled with insanity over my head and the next thing I saw was its hand being raised in the air and coming down on my face, slashing the soft skin from side to side. A stinging pain laced by face and I screamed with all the power my lungs held, blood entering my eyes and blinding me momentarily. My hands flew to protect me and another round of shots reverberated, some of the bullets missing and some others finding their way into the monster’s body. It screamed and leaned back, giving me the edge to hit it straight in the neck with the back of my gun. Reacting to the pain, it retreated even more and with pure bliss, I realized that I was able to move my feet, raising one of them and kicking the beast straight in the gut with a wild scream of anger.  
  
It fell on the side, completely setting me free and grabbing the God sent opportunity, I rose on my feet and started running again, paying no attention to the pain I was feeling; from the fall I had back there, my left hand must have been pretty messed up and I could barely move it. I was still holding on to the gun for dear life though. I dared not to look back and see where the monster was. I only wanted to get out of the cemetery and into the streets that would offer me some kind of salvation and from what I was able to remember in my distressed state, the cemetery had side entrances as well. So coming at a cross road, I immediately turned to the right, my eyes catching a glimpse of a far away wall. If only I could reach it.  
  
A loud growl sounded from just behind me.  
  
The next thing I knew what that a foot landed straight into my sides.  
  
The world was lost around me, as my feet failed to come in contact with the ground and I was literally catapulted somewhere on the right with immense power, hitting a nearby tombstone so hard, that the stone creaked and broke utterly, making me fall to the other side of it and onto the ground, screaming loudly and clutching onto my sides as blood came out in abundance from my mouth. My brain struggled to overcome the pain, but I was feeling like I was just hit by a speeding truck, making me completely unable to even try getting back at my own two feet or even breathing properly for all that mattered. Somewhere inside the blur, I saw the thing standing above me, orange eyes flashing with pure bliss as it placed its foot over my left hand. A chilling cracking sound was heard as the bone shattered, followed by my bloodcurdling scream and I rolled to the side, hugging my broken hand against my chest, tears and blood mixing on my face as they dripped down. And right then, pure anger washed over me. Clenching my jaw tightly, I raised my good hand and shot its leg almost by contact, screaming victoriously at the pained yell it let out, a yell that reminded me of a girl’s voice, but having no time to ponder over it, I kicked the wounded leg hard, making it fall on the ground as I rose on my own two feet, my body deciding to block the pain utterly and completely. I turned towards it as it tried to get up and shot its shoulder, sending it back into the ground, before I myself turned and started racing towards the wall that was now closer than I noticed at first.  
  
Time was lost around me once again.  
  
I raced towards the wall with all the power my body -and even the pain- fueled me with, hearing the monster behind me growl and stand up, as it once again attempted to catch me. Only that this time, there was no way I would let it. My eyes focused on the road ahead of me, catching a glimpse of an exit coming into view as I was narrowing the wall, the beast so hot on my tracks, that I was able to feel its breath grazing the skin of my neck, its hands reaching out to me and attempting to grab me by the hair or the clothes, but the determination was coursing through my veins like hot iron, energizing me beyond all that I could imagine. A victorious scream left my lips as I finally saw the entrance and using the loud pounding of my heart as fuel, I put my all into running.  
  
I jumped over the short dividers and literally threw myself on the city road.  
  
Bright lights blinded me and a loud honking came from my left.  
  
I saw the car when it was already too late.

When I came to my senses the very next day, I found myself inside a plain white room that was illuminated by white lights that hanged from the ceiling, buzzing softly. I was lying on a soft and comfortable bed and various machines were connected with my hands and chest, indicating my vital signs. I didn’t need the nurse that walked inside along with a very pale and worn out Steve to know that I was in the hospital; the moment Steve saw that I was awake, he graced me with the most sincere and relieved smile I had ever seen on a man.  
  
Apparently, a lot of things had happened to me; for starters, I had been hit rather hard by the car that knocked me down by accident when I threw myself on the road. The poor driver failed to avoid me, even if he tried his best, and was more than simply shocked, believing that all the injuries I had, were caused by the car. He rushed me as fast as he could to the nearest hospital, where they decided it was mandatory to put me in the OR. And they were quite right to do so as well, because my injuries were quite serious: my concussion was so severe that had caused a small hematoma inside my brain which needed immediate medical attention in order not to cause any further damage, my left hand and seven of my ribs were broken completely, I was covered in cuts and bruises and to top it all, I had internal bleeding which would have cost me my life if I wasn’t rushed to the hospital in time. Lucky to be alive, was the first thing the nurse told me, but thankfully, I just needed a few days to regain some of my energy and I would be allowed to return to my house; if the hematoma or internal bleeding returned though, they weren’t going to let me go anywhere. After the daily check up from the doctor, I was left alone with Steve, who had many questions about what happened, something that was only normal and this time, I decided that it was for the best to let him know about what happened.  
  
He listened to me quietly, never cutting me off and allowing me to tell the story in peace, nodding and urging me to continue whenever was necessary. I told him about the note and the DVD, about my reckless decision to go to the cemetery all alone, as well as the things I found inside the Eaton mausoleum and the names written on the Montaige grave. This time, I chose to tell him that someone I couldn’t see attacked me from the shadows and that I barely escaped by shooting him whenever it was possible and in the end throwing myself on the road; I chose to refer to the _thing_ that chased me as a ‘he’ rather than a ‘she’, since I didn’t want Steve to go after a possible monster. He had a family and kids to raise; he didn’t need to go after some creature that could hurt him irreparably and take him away from his family. So I chose to mislead him on that point alone. As I finished my story, it was Steve’s turn to tell me what had happened from the moment they found me and onwards. Apparently, Chief Denver was notified about the attack and therefore threw me out of the investigation, along with Steve, since the case was named far too dangerous and he had requested the help of the F.B.I.; they would be here in a couple of days to collect all the information we found and take the case. In addition, the cemetery was closed to the public as well and it was being investigated, inch by inch, to find who was responsible for the attack and the damages, yet they had found nothing up until now. Chief Denver was beyond himself with rage that one of his agents was hurt and from now on and until he decided that the coast was once again clear and safe, a trained agent would be outside both mine and Steve’s doors to make sure that everything was okay. There was a written order to return to our homes immediately and come back to the Headquarters only after the holidays.  
  
I was completely infuriated with all those news, but Steve managed to reason with me and say that it was only normal for Chief to act this way; even Steve himself was scared that I might not make it when he was notified by the hospital and rushed here as soon as possible. I was lucky enough to escape, but maybe next time luck wouldn’t be at my side. Still, we both decided that it was a matter of personal pride to try and find out to who these names belonged, even if we were to hand off the case; and that was what I chose to do the moment I would return home.  
  
So, four days later, I was discharged from the hospital and finally allowed to go home. An agent was right by my side from the moment I stepped my foot out of the hospital, obviously the one that was in charge of keeping an eye on me and to make sure I was properly escorted to my own house with safety and frankly, I didn’t fight things this time; even if my injuries had begun to heal, I was too tired and beaten up still to walk around freely and more importantly, without pain. Steve volunteered to drive us all to my house, where he made sure to walk me up to my threshold under miss Cook’s curious and frightened gaze, before saying goodnight and urging me to call him tomorrow so he would know that I was alright.  
  
I waved at him as the door of the elevator closed and he left.  
  
I sighed and almost immediately, let out a pained groan, grabbing my ribs in a desperate try to ease the pain a little bit. Pressing my lips together in dismay and trying to push the pain away from my mind, I opened my bag and fished out the keys to my apartment, quickly shoving them inside the keyhole and unlocking the door, passing inside my own house.  
  
Let me tell you this: one of the greatest feelings in life is returning home after what seemed like an eternity. The ones who believe that our home is our private sanctuary away from the scary world are completely right; nothing can soothe you more when you are alone and tired, than returning to your usual surroundings. Even if my apartment had been closed for too long and the air around me was as cold as the stormy night outside, it was somehow relaxing to find myself inside my house. Hell, even if the whole house was a mess, it still was far better than the hospital. Closing the door behind me, I threw my bag on the armchair closer to me, before walking to the stand and carefully starting to take my coat off, trying not to hurt my broken ribs. The moment I was done, I rushed to the thermostat and turning it on, I decided that it was for the best to clean up a little bit; if I was going to relax and do nothing the next days, it was best to have the house clean at least. So, using my good hand, I started going around the living room, picking my things up and placing them in their correct spots.  
  
I won’t lie to you, being injured and cleaning up with the addition of a broken hand is no easy task, yet after a while I was so drawn into my thoughts that I was barely registering my surroundings. The agent was right outside the building’s entrance and to my complete surprise, his presence somehow reassured me that nothing was about to get me; even miss Cook made no comments about him, yet something told me that Chief had probably payed a visit to the poor lady. It’s okay; maybe it was a good thing to take some vacations from work and surely not have to walk up and down the place to find some clues. All that I had to do once I was done with the house was to look up the names in the police database. If Steve was correct, then the said men would have committed other crimes as well within the span of the murders and now; I would find out who they were and everything would be alright in my conscience when I hand in the case to the F.B.I.  
  
With these thoughts in mind, once I was done with cleaning, I turned the computer on and reaching for my bag, I took out my phone, the DVD and the small note I had found inside my car. Steve was sweet enough to pick these things up for me and return them, advising me though, that I should hand them over to the agents, since they were precious pieces of information. I had rolled my eyes with total irony when he told me that, but looking at the pictures I had taken that fateful night, I could see all the accumulated information that were pretty important. Still, I found myself avoiding to even look at the pictures, except the ones that had the names captured; all of the places were stirring up memories that I would rather forget once and for all, since in the mere thought of that night, I was able to feel the eyes of the monster looking at me, even if I was all alone and in the seventh floor of the hospital. It was evident that what I had been through was making me paranoid, so in a desperate urge to make myself forget, I was violently pushing the memories away from my already polluted by the fear mind.  
  
The computer welcomed me with the usual starting sound and the moment I was able to, I logged in to the police database, accessing the criminal files. I typed in the names and hit the search button, before I leaned back in my chair and watched, as various faces flashed in front of the computer screen. It was only a matter of time to find them; not matter how far away they might have gone, no matter in which country they were, we would find them sooner or later. The mere thought that they are still running free was getting on my nerves more than the monster that was after me. At least it was obvious that it was a horrific creature, yet for the five guys to be roaming around free and completely concealing the horrendous things that they have done, it was indeed maddening. Opening the bottle of pills that I had taken from the doctor, I pop some in my mouth and down them without water. I would be more than simply glad to hand over the case with the names of the culprits written inside; it would help me sleep better from now on.  
  
The sad thing was though, that the computer didn’t do me the favor. After almost half an hour of searching, it came up with more names than I could count, with people from both Canada and the United States. This was no good. Opening the search tool, I decided to narrow things down considerably. Writing _assault, home invasion, illegal gun possession_ and _member of the Snakes_ , I hit the search button once again, watching as the search was eliminating more and more people in fast rates.  
  
My attention was then drawn unexpectedly by a flash outside my window and turning, I saw the inky night sky being illuminated every now and then by the flashing white light of lightning, which were soon followed by the deafening sound of thunder, making the lights above my head flicker a little bit and the glass of the windows creak. Another storm was raging upon us and by the rain that was coming down -in an almost horizontal line to the ground- I immediately knew that it was by far the worst one of this winter up until now. The shadows of the trees from the street danced against the building opposite from me, giving the whole place a nightmarish hue and making me feel glad that I was inside the safety of my own house; I wouldn’t even dare to think what I would do if I was outside in the torrential rain.  
  
When I averted my eyes to the computer screen, my heart skipped a beat.  
  
There, right in front of me on the screen, two pictures of two men were waiting, accompanied by two names. The first one was a blond man with brown eyes that appeared to be in his late twenties; his name was Steven Marks, age 29 and he was a former member of Snakes and the next one, a man in his early thirties, with brown hair and blue eyes, was none other than Paul James, eldest son of Lorens James, leader of the Snakes and former member himself. Both men had been arrested a few months before for assaulting two women on the street, but their bail was payed and they were now waiting for their trial from the comfort of their own houses. In the sight of the two men, my eyes opened wide with wonder and excitement. Could this be my lead? Could those ones be the ones I was looking for? Pulling the keyboard closer to me, I started typing away frantically, trying to see if the men were in Toronto around the time that the murders happened. My heart was pounding loudly inside my chest with each button I pressed and it almost stopped when a certain picture popped up right in front of me, coming from a street camera somewhere around Toronto.  
  
I leaned closer.  
  
And there they were.  
  
Marks and James were caught by a security camera of a nearby supermarket, walking towards a black pick-up truck, accompanied by three other men that followed close behind. The five men appeared to be talking to each other, with James holding the keys to the truck, which unsurprisingly was a Ford; their faces were captured pretty clearly by the camera, so without a moment’s hesitation, I scanned them and started searching, the same moment I grabbed a notepad from my drawer and wrote down the names. A notification sound went off and three more pictures popped up, matching with the three men that were seen in the picture. As I read them, hand writing down the names immediately, my breath was caught inside my chest. Right in front of me were Billie Rock, age 26, caught for stealing a supermarket five years ago and the brothers Carl and Eric Green, age 22 and 20, who were charged with some petty crimes a few years ago as well. But it wasn’t so strange for those men to be together right? Well, it wouldn’t be if the date on the lower right corner didn’t show that it was the 31 of October 2014 and the fact that Paul James was leading a small gang of criminals; it was clear that since he was Loren’s son, he did have a motive to go after the family and the fact that he was in the city a few hours before the murders, was something more than simply a coincidence. Right at that moment, my brain clicked and I smiled widely to myself. I had finally found the killers, I was sure about it. I would bet my very own life that they were responsible for killing the Montaige family.  
  
Oh, Steve will be amazed once he hears this!  
  
With the smile still spread across my face, I barely noticed the extremely loud thunder that echoed. The windows creaked and the lights went off above my head, plunging the whole apartment into darkness, except from the light that was coming from the computer. Looking up, I sighed and grabbed the DVD, knowing that the power would come back eventually and it was only natural for a power outage to happen when the storms hit Toronto. So, placing the DVD on the computer, I waited patiently while resting my chin on my good hand, waiting for the small window to pop up and after a few seconds, it really did. A luxuriously green garden appeared on the screen, seemingly all too familiar with the swing that hanged from the huge weeping willow, the only addition to it being the table that was placed right in the middle of the grass, decorated for a children’s party. If a middle-aged, blonde woman didn’t walk in front of the camera, carrying a pink birthday cake, I would have never have guessed that it was a video from the Montaige family.  
  
_‘Mama, do you think we have enough candles for the cake?’_ an off-camera voice addressed the lady.  
  
_‘Of course we do Anastacia. Are you okay with handling the camera?’_ the lady asked.  
  
If Anastacia ever answered that question, I would never find out. As the smiling woman asked that very last question, a sharp move drew my attention from the corner of my eye, making my head turn to look out the window, only for my heart to drop and my brain to freeze; terror washed over me, making both of my hands fly to grab the chair, preparing me to run as my gaze was nailed right outside my very own balcony, failing to register anything other than what I was seeing…  
  
My lungs struggled to scream, but my voice was nowhere to be found and I was left completely frozen to stare at _it_ ….  
  
No, it wasn’t an ‘it’, it was a _she_ …  
  
If the Almighty God had enabled demons to walk the same grounds as us humans, then I was completely sure that they would look exactly like the woman that stood right outside my balcony. Well, to be precise, she wasn’t standing there; she was actually sitting on her heels on the steel banister of my balcony with one of her hands grabbing the steel for balance and the other one stretched to the side and holding on to a very old and menacing looking sledgehammer. The whole posture was reminding me of a panther that had finally locked eyes with its victim and it was preparing to strike mercilessly. Her skin was so ghastly white, that reminded me nothing of the natural color humans have, resembling a demon or ghost more; she was wearing an orange witch costume that was shredded and worn out to the extreme and a sea of curly red hair framed her nightmarish characteristics, with both the hair and the clothes waving on the raging wind.  
  
Still, all these were nothing, nothing at all when the time to look upon her face came; as I looked at her straight in the eye, all I did was scream my lungs out to the point where my brain started getting dizzy and fall back, knocking the chair over and falling on the ground, screaming loudly once again, as I landed on my broken ribs.  
  
Why?  
  
Because this was the face of a true demon.  
  
Her eyes were in the shade of the most extremely vivid orange I had ever seen in my entire life; like two flames that were alive and burned endlessly, they shone brightly among the sea of black that had consumed the sclera, an abyssal black that could drown countless souls inside its black waters. It was evident even now, that her face must have been beautiful at one point, but right now two scars were cascading each of her eyes, starting from her lower eyebrows and reaching all the way down to her jaw, with the flesh still hanging open on the edges of her skin, like someone had shredded her skin in half. But all these things weren’t enough to make me scream and pray for death to take me right then, right now, as I tried to back away from her as quickly as possible. No, all these paled in comparison to one single characteristic of hers; her mouth. The moment she saw me squirming in terror on the cold floor, her characteristics were lightened up and her mouth formed a smile…only that it wasn’t your normal one. Her lips retreated…. and retreated….and retreated….. and the skin that surrounded them started opening up. I watched in utter terror, as her mouth was opening up from side to side, with the flesh being torn apart and hanging from the edges, literally reaching until her ears before her jaw dropped and I screamed one for single time. Why? Because even if her head was stretched forward in order for the monster to keep me in sight and study me, when her jaw dropped, it reached all the way down to the base of her neck. Pointy black teeth appeared on the upper side and on the lower one and what I registered as red saliva dripped down to the floor from her wide open mouth that was more of a hellish grimace than a smile.  
  
She tilted her face to the side….  
  
And that was the moment my brain decided to restart.  
  
Rolling over to my stomach, my eyes searched frantically for one single thing that was located right beside the door, hanging from the stand; my gun. Clenching my teeth with all the power I had, I tried to look past the pain and reach that goddamn gun, since I knew that this was the only thing that could keep me alive; I just couldn’t believe how the hell did she manage to find a way and appear on my balcony, but I knew that this wasn’t the time for questions, but time to act fast. I pulled my knees against the floor, using both hands, wounded or not, to help my body rise from the ground, allowing my penetrating scream to reverberate like a gunshot inside the small apartment, as my conscience reacted to the pain that shot up from literally every wound I had; I felt my head and broken hand throbbing in pain, while the pain produced from my ribs was denying me the gift of breathing freely, making me a bit light-headed. Not a single thing mattered though, when I did manage to stand up straight only to hear a loud bang that was immediately followed by the sound of glass shattering against the floor into billion pieces and the malicious growl of the demon that eventually managed to crash its way inside.  
  
I screamed the same moment she did, catapulting my body forward, hands outstretched and gaze fixed on the gun and she lunged against me, trying to catch me.  
  
Only that this time, I was faster.  
  
My hands managed to reach out for the gun and immediately tighten around it, the very same moment that my body turned and the gun pointed straight at the demonic girl, which was lunging at me with her mouth still wide open and her movements as sharp as a beast’s; I fired straight at her, the bullets finding their way to her shoulder and left hand, but she didn’t even seem to be fazed this time. Before I even knew it, she leaned down and avoiding the bullet that was aiming straight for her head, she appeared right in front of me in a mere second, grabbing my hands with both of her own and proceeding to twist her body, using it as a lever for my own. The world around me became nothing but a blur, as I felt my back passing an inch by the armchair on my left and finally crashing on the glass coffee table that I had in the living room. The metal bars and the broken grass pieced my skin as if it was butter, making me scream loudly and an ocean of tears blur my vision. Among my screams, I failed to see the sledgehammer coming down harshly to meet with my right leg. I only felt the aftermath.  
  
My back formed a perfect arc and the bloodcurdling scream never emerged from my open mouth, as the bone that shattered under the heavy weapon, had become nothing more than a pile of dust. Oxygen was denied to me right at that second, my lungs failing to remember how humans breathed and I was left there, on the cold floor, convulsing in absolute pain that disabled me from both moving and thinking. It was right then, that the sledgehammer connected with my other leg and I screamed so loudly, that I literally felt my throat being ripped apart, until a wave of blood came out of my mouth with what was left of me trying to coughing it out. Tears flowed in abundance from my eyes and my brain was the one pounding right now, the pressure and blood rushing to it making it reach a step away from having a stroke. Yet, when she laughed, when the monster laughed with all her might, a sickening sound that was able to make you go mad or even scream until your soul came out of your chest, I was able to hear it clearly.  
  
I felt a pressure on my chest and the monster sat on me, bringing her face inches away from my own and her horrendous smile disappeared completely, leaving no trace behind on her lips. She grabbed my hair violently, pulling them so my ear came right next to her mouth as she chuckled and whispered to me.  
  
_‘You failed me Catherine. Now, you will suffer the consequences. There is no mercy left for your soul.’_  
  
Her voice was something more than a simple whisper, reaching my ears and sounding full, alluring, with a trace of demonic hue in it.  
  
She smiled yet again _‘Allow me to tell you a story about a few witches that claimed an innocent soul.’_


	2. Slaughter

  
**_‘The devil, as a roaring lion walketh about, seeking whom he may devour’  
Peter 5:8_ **   
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  
The afternoon lessons of Ryerson University had officially come to an end.  
  
The sun had long ago started his dive into the distant horizon, allowing the rich shadows to be released from their shelters and start making their way onto the still busy streets. It was the very same time students were finally allowed to return to their homes looking forward into relaxing as much as they can in their private shelters. So, if you happened to be wandering around the university campus, you would be able to see large crowds of students talking among themselves happily and even pranking one another every now and then. Quite a few of them were arguing among each other. Still, not all of them shared the same excitement or strong feelings about the ending of the day.  
  
Among them, it was quite unlikely not to notice the small frame of a girl, whose red mane was something quite doubtful to go unnoticed. She was walking among the crowd hastily, fiddling with her papers in order to locate whatever she appeared to be looking for, paying little to no attention as to where she was going. In contrast with all the others in the crowd, she wasn’t in the company of other people, walking towards the grand gate of the University all by herself and seemingly quite fine with that. Pushing a stray lock of her wine red hair behind her ear, before an almost inaudible sigh leaves her lips as she gives up her search, she raises her head once again, only too late to notice as she walked into someone.  
  
A sturdy back appeared right in front of her out of literally nowhere and having no time to notice it, she walked straight into it, bumping hard with the man’s back and out of reflex, releasing her hands to cover her face only for the papers to scatter on the paved floor. An exclamation of surprised pain leaves her lips and she is vaguely aware that whoever it was, had turned towards her speaking up with pure joy painting his vivid voice.  
  
‘Oh sorry. I didn’t see you there.’ The man exclaims as the girl looks up to him.  
  
He surely looked happy for a student who just finished with his afternoon lessons, the girl observed. With broad shoulders and a lean figure, he stood at the proud height of 6’ 2’ towering well above the girl’s head. He had lightly tanned skin with high cheekbones and a pair of venom green eyes adorning his undoubtedly beautiful face. His short, messy chestnut brown hair reached just a bit under his earlobes and framed his face in casual disarray. From his large smile and his vivid aura, the girl thought he must be a year younger than her; university life and responsibilities hadn’t sucked the life out of him yet.  
  
‘It’s alright; I am the one to blame.’ The girl says calmly, leaning down to fetch her papers.  
  
Mid-way though, the man’s jolly voice interrupted her ‘Let me help you with that.’  
  
Before she had the chance to stop him or grab the rest of the now dirtied papers, the girl saw the man leaning down and with one swift move picking the rest of the papers up, placing them in a nice pile before standing up again with the girl following him. The moment they were both on their feet again, he offered them to her, a huge smile adorning his beautiful face.  
  
‘There you go. I’m Eric by the way.’ He raised his hand in a handshake.  
  
‘Anastacia.’ The girl murmured, shaking his hand back and wanting like nothing else to get going in case she ran late again. Alas, the man gasped the moment he heard her name, his green eyes growing as big as two dinner plates as he looked upon the much smaller girl with pure amazement.  
  
‘Of course! You are Anastacia Montaige. I’m Eric Green! You helped me around campus when I enrolled last month, showing me all the classrooms and professors offices!’ he exclaimed.  
  
Now that he mentioned it, Anastacia realized why the man looked so familiar. She had indeed helped him out last month as an extra project for a specific teacher in order to score some extra points for her assignment. It had proven more difficult than expected –and especially for nothing in the end- and Anastacia had pushed the memories in the back of her head. First-years were always too excited to be around, they never seemed to appreciate the wonder of silence, always running around, asking all sorts of tiring questions. The girl had helped out so many, it was no wonder Eric seemed familiar but never fully recognized by her tired brain. Now that the man reminded her though, her mood lifted up a little bit and she hugged the papers more loosely against her chest.  
  
‘I remember you; you were the one to score first from your year.’ She recalled, watching him quietly as his face beamed.  
  
‘I know you would remember me! I must have tired you so much that day, you must have been glad to get rid of me.’ He joked.  
  
Well, she did actually ‘It was nothing.’  
  
‘No no it was a nightmare, I know. But I do remember you telling me if I ever needed help, I could always come to you.’ He said, watching Anastacia’s even face ‘As it seems, I do need some help with some of my assignments.’  
  
For the first time, Anastacia almost cracked her emotionless façade with a knowing smile; she couldn’t help it. She knew exactly what the problem was ‘Criminology?’  
  
Eric lowered his head in defeat, raising his hands in surrender ‘You caught me.’  
  
‘I have some papers that might help you I can-‘  
  
‘How about we go out for coffee? I can treat you to something delicious and you can give me all the info I need. What do you say?’ he smiled down at her, his green eyes filled with quiet determination.  
  
Anastacia stared back with her brown own ‘I have a lot of work to do unfortunately. I can still get you the papers but I have no spare time. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get going.’  
  
Offering a small smile to the man, she side-steps him and resumes her walk towards the exit, with her feet going a little bit faster than before. She never really was a people’s person and with no hard feelings towards Eric, she really did have a lot of work to take care of having no time to dilly dally with coffee dates. Eric was a great guy, truly, but the time she would spend with him was an hour lost from her studies and she couldn’t risk that. It was her second year in scholarship with the university and she had to maintain really high marks in order to keep attending; her family after the incident had no money to afford such expensive university and the police’s scholarship was nothing you couldn’t lose if you failed your classes. Anastacia couldn’t take that risk.  
  
All in all though, people tired her more than she would like to admit lately.  
  
Walking down the busy evening streets of Toronto, her feet seem to lead her all on their own towards a very familiar direction. Passing streets and green lights, she allows her mind to finally wander off to everything around her; it was just a trick she seemed to do these last two years to release some of the strain she placed over her brain. Having to actually take care of her family now that her father was gone, was a much tougher job for the young adult to do. Of course, she had her mother, but she was more of the ‘house’ type, leaving Anastacia to take care of everything else. Not that she complained in the least. She just simply didn’t have the energy left inside of her to deal with other people as well; she was constantly running for something, constantly trying to make ends meet. Having time for socializing was a luxury she couldn’t afford. Rounding a corner, the sound of children playing welcomes her, as her eyes dart upwards to meet with the familiar kindergarten.  
  
It was a small building, with only two floors and a small garden for the children to play, but it was the best kindergarten in Toronto. Teachers Matthews and Amana were the best and kindest with the children they took care of, loving their job as much as they did the children. Approaching the gate, Anastacia waves hello to miss Amana standing in the garden who only smiles back and calls a certain name. A small, red-headed head perks up from the crowd of small children and two dark chocolate eyes nail themselves on Anastacia’s matching own.  
  
‘Anastacia!’ a childish voice chirps and a little girl runs towards her, her small hands raised in the air and a huge smile decorating her adorable face.  
  
‘I’m here Lina. Time to go home for the day.’ The girl smiles a genuine smile at the sight of her six-year-old sister and the moment she is close to her, she wraps her hands carefully around her small figure and picks her up in her hands with exceptional ease. The little girl spares no time to offer her older sister a loving kiss in the cheek and in response, Anastacia messes her straight red hair playfully.  
  
‘Have you been a good girl today Lina?’ she asks, her mood lifting now that she was with her younger sister.  
‘I played with Marco all day long! He even asked me to go to the ball with him!’ the little girl exclaims, as Anastacia grabs her schoolbag and waves at the teacher goodbye, walking off towards the direction of their home.  
  
‘He did huh? And what do you want to do?’ she asks the small girl mindlessly, gazing up and down the street before passing to the other side.  
  
Lina pouted adorably ‘I want to go to the ball with Alec, but Amanda asked him first!’  
  
‘Then you should go with Marco.’ Anastacia advised the little one, moving her hand a little to the side in order to hold her in her hands more easily.  
  
Lina had been growing fast these past few months and if things kept going like that, Anastacia would soon be unable to carry her. It seemed like yesterday to the older girl that Lina was just a small baby wrapped carefully inside a sea of blankets, her small face peering through them and laughing joyfully. From the moment the two sisters met each other, they were practically inseparable since Anastacia was always there to take care of the little one even when their mother was around. She simply loved her sister more than anything in this world and in return, Lina always seemed to look up to her older sister. Even when their father died, it was Lina that consoled Anastacia, her young mind unable to wrap around the concept of her father’s loss but still pretty capable of offering her sister some kind of comfort. In the very first days after the death, when Anastacia was plagued with horrid nightmares, the two sisters would sleep the night off together to keep each other company. So, their bond was as strong as it was adamant. When Anastacia finally started healing, she took it upon herself to care for the little one, since their mother was still in deep grief and unable to do any more than provide financial aid for the family; everything else was up to Anastacia.  
  
‘So have you decided what you want to be in Halloween?’ Anastacia asks, her gaze falling on a familiar house at the end of the street; they were reaching home at last.  
  
‘I want to dress up just like you! What do you want Anastacia?’ Lina throws her hands around Anastacia’s neck and hugs her tightly, almost choking the older girl who only pats her in the back and says nothing.  
  
‘How about we dress up as witches? Sounds any good?’  
  
‘Sounds perfect!’ Lina exclaims as they pass the garden gate of their house, only to hear a door open and their mom comes out of the house, car keys in hand and an excited expression over her face.  
  
Cameron Montaige was a woman many would have looked up to in the past. Being only 43 years of age, she used to have no wrinkles at all and an elegant posture to accompany her amazing appearance. Her hair was straight, reaching all the way to her shoulders and having a luxurious dark brown shade while her matching brown eyes were the only thing her daughters had inherited from her. She was medium tall, only an inch or two taller than her older daughter but with just as pale complexion as her. Now, after the tragic event of her husband’s death, she seemed to have aged over a single night, her constantly tired eyes betraying her age to the fullest, if not making her appear older, and her once luxurious hair being stained by white hair that sprang here and there. She was the woman from a small village who managed to marry into the city and live a heaven-like life alongside her husband, only to lose it all over the timespan of a single night. Now, she was trying to get back to her feet as a cook writer in a local newspaper.  
  
Seeing her two daughters approaching, her face lights up and she waves towards them ‘There you are girls! How was your day?’  
‘It was fine mom.’ Anastacia comments as Cameron takes Lina from her hands, with Anastacia instantly becoming gloomier by the separation.  
  
‘We had fun!’ Lina smiles.  
  
‘I’m sure you did honey. How about all three of us go out for dinner tonight huh? What do you say?’  
  
‘Yeeeeyyyyy!’ Lina cheers as Cameron walks by Anastacia, signaling towards her to follow them and with the older girl obeying with a heavy heart.  
  
‘Did you burn dinner again?’ she threw at her mother, her tone even but her frustration evident to anyone who knew her too well; it was a common occurrence these past few months for their mother to burn their lunch or dinner, usually when she tried to prepare some random recipe before putting it in the paper.  
  
‘Not at all.’ Cameron chirps in the same way as her younger daughter, opening the car and placing Lina in the backseat ‘I just thought it is a great night for some quality time together.’  
  
‘Of course you did.’ Anastacia rolled her eyes, opening the door and sitting on the passenger’s seat.  
  
‘Oh lighten up Ania, we will have fun!’ Cameron reassured her, turning the key in the ignition and making the engine roar.  
‘Don’t call me that.’  
  
Anastacia’s mom bit her bottom lip, realizing her mistake ‘Sorry honey.’  
  
Cameron knew all too well she was not supposed to call her eldest daughter like that under any circumstances. It had a trigger reaction with the girl’s mood, making her either explode or sulk at her corner silently. And tonight, Anastacia chose to just gloom on the side. The three of them drove to the usual restaurant they loved in Toronto’s downtown streets and as Cameron pulled over, all of them got out of the car and headed inside. As Anastacia raised her hand to open the door, she heard an all too familiar voice call her name from a bit further down the street.  
  
‘Hey Anastacia!’  
  
It was Eric. Anastacia’s gaze turned and immediately fell on the younger man’s figure standing by the sidewalk, waving happily at her as two friends of his surrounded him. One of them appeared just a few years older and had a strong resemblance with Eric; he must have been an older brother or something. The other one had his back turned towards her, making it impossible to look at his face. Eric waved vigorously at her, a large smile lightening his face up and making an enormous wave of heat spread across Anastacia’s face as she caught herself shyly waving back at the boy. Oh God, please don’t come over. And no comments.  
  
Luckily, Eric did no move to approach her, so the girl along with her family entered the restaurant.  
  
‘Cute guy Anastacia! Friend of yours?’ her mother chimed in with a comment.  
  
There it was, Anastacia thought ‘No, he is just a classmate.’ She declared and her tone gave this particular conversation an end, with her mother simply shrugging her shoulders and leading Lina further inside. Anastacia followed them without saying another word.  
  
What chances there were for her to meet Eric here tonight.. Still, he had greeted her…Maybe she could help him out after all. He surely seemed kind enough to acknowledge her and actually greet her even if they weren’t in the same company; which was enough to say for her previous friends. The man seemed genuinely good; Anastacia found her mood lightening up a bit, before she even realized it.  
  
  
  
  
  
~ * ~  
  
  
  
On the very next day, dark clouds covered the whole sky, throwing the busy streets of Toronto into an eerie mid-light which could only be characterized as haunting. Silver and dark blue colors prevailed everywhere, making it appear as if the sun hadn’t risen in the horizon fully, held back by some random evil force that prevented him; but of course, this wasn’t the case. Thankfully for the people residing there, they had grown quite accustomed to this kind of weather, declaring their denial into letting it affect their everyday lives. So without as much as a single thought, they had once again rushed out in the streets, coming and going to their jobs or any other chores they might be having; the whole town buzzed loudly with life and sounds. Yet they did not seem to reach each and every corner of it; if you searched close enough, you would find a certain place or two that still held on to their complete silence, offering a nice escape from the hectic ways of life.  
  
One of these places was Pleasant Cemetery. Among the ancient pine trees and huge willow and maple trees, rested grand gardens of pure beauty even in the fall season. Rich brown or red leaves covered the grass under the trees, creating a magnificent carpet of vivid colors only Mother Nature could ever create.  
  
Among those willows and hidden on a small path no one seemed to notice, Anastacia stood. The girl was up early today; she had felt the need to visit the cemetery, a bouquet of lilies in her hands as she stood above one particular tomb, her eyes burning her with the tears she would never allow to fall. Instead, she stood there tall, her black clothes coming in total contrast with her vivid red hair that was carefully pulled up in a ponytail. She seemed paler than usual today and the kind gardener who roamed the place and had grown quite accustomed to the girl had pointed it out, advising her not to strain herself more than she should. But Anastacia pushed these thoughts away from her mind; she had felt the need to come here after a long time and she would surely not allow anything cloud her mind.  
  
‘I miss you.’ she whispered gently ‘I wish you were still here daddy.’  
  
The girl lowered and rested the flowers against the grand tombstone.  
  
Andrew Montaige was an exceptional father and a really good man. Being in the Police Force since he was barely twenty three years old, he had grown up to become a man of status and authority. He was the kind of man to be always laughing, cracking jokes with his colleagues and inviting them over every single weekend for barbeques or stuff like that and every single person that knew him had something good to say about him. His sharp senses and mind had allowed him to climb up rather fast and just five years before; he had managed to completely wipe out one of the most dangerous gangs roaming the streets of Toronto: the Snakes. It was a breakthrough that brought him a well earned raise in the salary. But even with his extra duties, the man never neglected his family. Cameron and Andrew had met only when they were in college and soon fell in love. Not long after came their first daughter Anastacia and then Lina. Everything seemed to be going good for the family until last year, when what would be a normal day on the job, turned into a bloodbath. Andrew was called for a disturbance at some random house in the outskirts of town, but he and his partner were unlucky. The man who threatened his wife carried a large shotgun with him and seeing the two officers come inside made him completely lose it; he fired at them. Andrew’s partner was heavily injured and had to be hospitalized. Andrew was shot in the heart and was pronounced dead on the spot.  
  
It was a loss Anastacia was unable to recover from. She loved her father; she loved him more than anything, always looking up to him, always following his good example. The man was the only one who could deal with his daughter’s quirkiness and light up her mood in mere minutes, throwing a random joke here and there and offering his advice when the girl was in need for some guidance. He was the only one who called her Ania. So losing him like that, in that violent and sudden way, had left the girl crippling. At first, she simply could not stop crying. Then, as the days passed, she found herself visiting his grave every single day. Only now had she stopped visiting that often, after a long talk she had with her psychologist. Even then though, whenever she had the need, she would find herself on the familiar paths of the cemetery.  
  
Like today. Today, that she had the strange feeling that something was about to happen.  
  
It wasn’t something that she could pinpoint from where it came from; it’s times like that, that a feeling of dread and fear overwhelms your heart and creates a void in your guts and one can always fail to pinpoint what had caused it to begin with. Pressing her lips together in dismay, the girl spares another small glance over the grave, before turning and making her way back. A loud thunder broke the skies above her head and upon inhaling, she realized there were only a few minutes before the first raindrops would hit the ground. Thankfully for her, she didn’t have any classes today and she just couldn’t wait to go back home, grab a blanket and her copy of Tales of Beedle the Bard and forget the world existed until Lina would be back. Sounds like a plan doesn’t it?  
  
Luck though, was not by her side today. The moment she was reaching the cemetery gates, another lightning pierced the silence and heavy rain started pouring almost immediately. Cursing loudly, Anastacia raised her eyes towards the sky for a single moment before raising her bag to cover the top of her head as much as it could, in a desperate attempt to protect herself a bit from the rain and she takes off towards the direction of her house. There was no point in making a run for it; even if she ran or not, she would still be soaked to the bone by the time she passed the threshold and there was no point in tiring herself out as well. Looking all around her in the now deserted street, she can actually catch a small glimpse of people looking outside from the windows of their houses, some of them going so far as to stare at the strange girl walking on the streets alone. Sighing, she hears a small car pull up next to her and she sees the driver pull down the car window.  
  
‘Need a lift home Anastacia?’ a familiar voice chirped and Anastacia’s brown eyes grow as big as two dinner plates when she sees the familiar, adorable face of Eric beaming a bright smile at the surprised girl who was out of words for a split second.  
  
Without realizing it, her feet come to a stop ‘Eric, what are you doing here?’ she exclaims, unable to fathom how on earth the man stumbled upon her once again.  
  
‘I was coming back from classes and saw you walking down the road.’ He replies smugly, with a grin that revealed he was utterly pleased with himself ‘How about you come in and I’ll drive you home. Or maybe you’d like to go for that coffee we were talking about the other day?’ he beams a smile and winks deviously.  
  
Anastacia rolls her eyes, folding her hands over her chest ‘This is not the time to flirt, Eric!’  
  
‘Flirting doesn’t have time love!’ he simply shrugs but the smile never diminishes ‘But honestly, let me drive you or you’ll catch a cold standing in the rain like that. I promise I’m not a creep.’  
  
Anastacia thought about it for a few seconds; her eyebrows furrowed above her eyes and her lips pressed against each other in deep thought. Well, it would be a real pain if she was to get wet and eventually come down with a flu or fever or whatever and would definitely ruin both her tight schedule and the promise to take Lina out trick-or-treating the day after tomorrow. But then again, could she really enter the car of a stranger? Sighing deeply, she made her decision.  
  
‘Alright. But I hope the coffee is worth it.’ she lightly teases him, and the man throws her a majestic smile before he pumps his fist in the air with an exclamation of victory leaving his lips.  
  
Anastacia rolls her eyes with a sigh and hurries to make her way to the passenger’s seat, hopping inside and closing the door behind her. Immediately, her senses are assaulted by the heat radiating from the heaters and she can’t help but feel her muscles relax a tiny bit. Eric lowers the volume of the radio even more and steadying his hands on the wheel, drives off inside the rain. Still, the smile was plastered across his face and there was no sign it was going away anytime soon.  
She throws him a look ‘Can you look more pleased with yourself Eric?’ she teases him lightly, keeping her voice even and steady, not betraying the amusement she was feeling inside in the view of the happy male. Yes, she found it tiresome to be around people, they irritated and disappointed her all the freaking time, yet Eric seemed to be rather fun and it was next to impossible to resist his upbeat aura that radiated off of him in steady waves. He seemed tolerable enough and Anastacia would appreciate some non-tiring company after such a long time.  
  
‘Why should I?’ he turns his green eyes toward her with a grin ‘I have the brooding cutie from my first day in uni in my car and she agreed to go for a coffee with me.’  
  
In his words, Anastacia raises an eyebrow; she is well aware of the heat spreading across her cheeks as a respond to Eric’s comment yet she tries to ignore it ‘I thought you needed help with the assignments?’ she comments, waiting to see how he will react.  
  
Eric winks deviously at her ‘I lied.’ He confesses ‘I just couldn’t come up with a better excuse to ask you out.’  
For the first time in a while, Anastacia smirks amused ‘And this was the best excuse you could find?’  
  
Eric pretends to be heartbroken, theatrically throwing a hand over his chest and pretending he was wounded, yet the glimmer in his emerald eyes never diminishes in the least nor is it fazed ‘You didn’t like my excuse? Anastacia, you surely know how to wound a man’s pride. But I’ll let it slide because you are cute and I like you.’  
  
‘Of course you will.’ Anastacia muses with a smirk and her attention is shortly drawn to the small coffee shop Eric pulled the car to a stop in front.  
  
The Crazy Bean was one of the most popular small coffee shops around Toronto and it surely served the best coffee around. Eric pulled the car to a stop and inside the almost torrential rain walked over to Anastacia’s door to open it for her before both of them rushed inside the warm interior, closing the door and trapping the freezing weather outside. The small place was absolutely cozy; painted in deep red and metallic black hues, its elegant tables and furniture matched perfectly with the crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and the rustic libraries decorating the left side of the vast space.  
  
It was late day and usually the shop should have been full, but the rain must have turned down many people and thus, only a few customers were scattered here and there. Eric led Anastacia to the table next to the vast window, before taking a seat across from the obviously awkward girl and taking the liberty of ordering something warm for both of them. Anastacia had been in there countless of times in the past, with her former best friends and high-school crushes, yet nowadays she did not. It brought her a sweet and sorrowful kind of nostalgia in her heart, but the upbeat and radiating kindness male in front of her soon drew all of her attention.  
  
Now that she had the chance to openly look at him without being afraid of getting caught –and short enough not to be considered a creep- she had to admit Eric was really handsome. His emerald green eyes were shining under the faint grey light coming from the heavens in a bottle green hue and his short messy brown hair were in much more of a disarray, with water dripping down from the edges as he passed his hand through them casually, sliding them back. He had a dimple or two next to his mouth and overall he was one girls considered breathtaking. Even if he was a bit younger than Anastacia. I mean, she was indifferent but most certainly not blind for crying out loud. Thankfully, he didn’t catch her staring and instead turned his eyes towards her, making her a bit uncomfortable, as they seemed to look right through her, immediately triggering all alerts and protective barriers inside her head. In front of his bright smile, she only offered a strained small smirk, looking as awkward as ever.  
Not that it discouraged him in the least.  
  
‘So’ he mused and leaned to rest his head on his hand, as he placed it on the table ‘How come you are the best student of your class? You already know all the secrets or you are a cute bookworm with a curiosity to match?’ he asks, genuinely interested in how she was managing to excel in criminology and all that; not a particularly woman domain, but some of them excelled at it none the less, and she happened to be one of them.  
  
Anastacia simply shrugs ‘Why not both Eric? I actually got to know a few things being raised around cops and all that, but you have to admit these are some interesting stuff. How to dissect a body with a pocket knife and all.’ She chuckles.  
‘If I didn’t know any better, I would say you were a serial killer.’ He laughs openly.  
  
‘Damn, now I have to kill you, you know.’ Anastacia jokes evenly as the kind waitress rests two steaming cups of coffee right in front of them. Almost instantly, she takes her own and grabs the extra sugar, proceeding into pouring three of them in her drink, trying as much as she could not to destroy the small milk leaf the barista had made for her.  
  
‘Go easy on the sugar love; the coffee will taste more like candy than actual coffee.’ Eric jokes as he takes a small sip of his own one.  
  
‘Can’t fight that sweet-tooth you know.’ She says ‘And coffee is rather bitter death without it. Anyway, why are you in criminology and all? Interested in the dissecting part?’  
  
Eric rests his cup on the table and for a bit his gaze lingers on it thoughtfully; like he was trying to find the right words to respond to it and it never failed Anastacia’s attention.  
  
‘No, nothing like that actually.’ He says, a bit of bitterness painting his vibrant voice ‘My parents wanted me to follow the family tradition and even moved all the way here so I could go to this university. I didn’t want to, but I do find it rather interesting and all.’ He comments honestly.  
  
‘What did you want to do though?’ Anastacia leans her head to the side in curiosity, reminding Eric of a big, red furred cat.  
  
‘Writing most of all. But I can still do that and be a force of the Law all at the same time.’ he jokes in a desperate attempt to lighten the mood up and he flashes his signature smirk on Anastacia, who simply observes the man for a few seconds thoughtfully. There was something in his words….not the sadness and all that, but something entirely else, like he was hiding some certain facts. Yet Anastacia decided not to pry on it at all.  
  
‘You are not from around here, are you?’ the girl comments, focusing her gaze more to the male in order to get the chance and see all the different emotions flash over his face; the question of course was not one to elicit such things, but still, it allowed her to observe him a little bit more. It was fascinating to see someone that was in love with doing a certain thing, end up doing another and it was definitely saddening. In this quick and fleeting life, one must always follow his/her dreams and do what really makes him happy as a person. Because if not, then where is the point in enjoying every single moment. Still, Anastacia hesitated from sharing her thoughts with him, in case she ended up offending him.  
  
Something that she wanted to avoid no matter what; it made a strange feeling erupt through her heart in the mere possibility it would wipe the male’s smile from his face.  
  
And he was so pretty when he smiled.  
  
Eric’s voice was what brought the girl back to reality ‘No, actually I just moved here two months back. Me and my folks came from Michigan; my father was a Mexican guy who fell in love with my mother while on vacation and the rest is history.’  
‘And you’ve got any brothers or sisters?’  
  
‘An older brother, but we don’t get along too well.’ He shrugs ‘What about you? I can imagine a big brother giving you hell through your childhood years.’ He comments and Anastacia can’t hold back a small chuckle at Eric’s loud laugh, but she nods.  
‘Actually, I only have a younger sister. She is around six years old and the most energetic little kid you’ll ever get to meet.’ She admits with a nod of her head ‘I love her very much.’  
  
‘I can tell’ he smirks ‘And you’ll take her out trick-or-treating on Halloween I assume. I don’t see you like the type to say no to little kids; to grown-ups though and especially yours truly when I first tried to take you out…’  
Anastacia rolls her eyes ‘You could take it, believe me. But yes, 12 o’ clock sharp, we’ll be out and roaming the streets.’  
  
‘I can join you if you want later on; if your parents have no objections of course, since I want to meet the little one. Kids love me.’ He smiles brightly.  
  
‘I’m sure they do, considering you’re at the same age.’ She laughs at his grinning face ‘My mom won’t have a problem believe me. She couldn’t let me off the hook when you waved at me the other day. Kept asking me if I liked you and all, like we were in fifth grade.’ The woman sighs in frustration and Eric notices with delight that she has started to feel comfortable enough to lower her defenses. Mentally, he high-fived himself.  
  
‘Oh boy, I wish you do, because this will get awkward really fast.’ He jokes and winks at the girl who evidently blushes and stares at him in silent shock ‘But what I also don’t want, is to get beat up by your father.’  
  
In the mention of her father, Anastacia’s faint smile drops completely. The previously calm and happy aura hanging around them like a cloud, dissolved into utter nothingness as Anastacia felt her heart tighten and a lump make its way in her neck, preventing her completely from inhaling even a single breath of fresh air. Her brown eyes went immediately dull and she started into nothingness. Eric was not blind; the male noticed her sudden change of behavior and regretted ever asking her. He opened his mouth to ask her about it, ask her why her whole demeanor changed in a matter of seconds and if he said something he shouldn’t, but the red-headed girl beat him to it.  
  
‘My….my father is not around anymore.’ she says soullessly, her emotions getting on lock down and icy demeanor returning twice as strong ‘He was killed a while ago.’  
  
‘Anastacia, I’m sorry I-‘  
  
‘I have to go home. The rain stopped and Lina will be home in a bit, so it’s better to get going.’ She mumbles in complete coldness, grabbing her stuff and raising from the chair ‘It was a nice coffee. Thank you.’  
  
Eric shoots his hand out to grab the girl from her hand and stop her, surprise and regret painted all over his face ‘Anastacia wait!’  
  
But she was faster than him.  
  
Before he even had the time to realize he was gripping the cold air in front of him, the girl had already made her way to the door and flinging it open, passed on the freezing cold air of the last days of October. Eric fumbled with his own stuff, apologizing to the waitress who looked at him like he had just murdered someone and tried to follow the red-headed girl, yet by the time he was outside, she was long gone.  
  
Anastacia simply could not take it. Eric was a great guy –as he appeared for now at least- and she literally hated herself for leaving him behind like that, but right now it was preferable for her to be alone. Because when things like that happened, when she was having fun for the first time in all the days her father was gone, she felt guilty and that was something she simply could not push through. The terrible feelings of guilt were washing over her like hot waves of an excruciatingly warm lava, burning her skin and making her want to claw her skin out and scream till her vocal cords were no more. She would have to apologize to Eric at some point, given that he would see her again without calling her a complete freak, like her friends did in the past. No one understood her; no one was able to realize what she was going through and the hole she was feeling in all the years of her life inside her heart was now wider than ever, threatening to devour her whole, never to be seen again. Completely swallowed by the darkness.  
  
And here she was, thinking she was doing better; that she was going to get better! That’s what they told her! That’s what the psychologist told her, that’s what she was seeing in herself and felt. But it was all a lie. Everyone was lying to her, even her own self. She was not going to be okay anymore because the only person that treated her like she was something more than a void wallflower was gone from this world. Her father was not with her anymore, he could no longer reassure her that everything was going to be okay, that he could always count on him and that all the people throwing insults against her did not matter because she was a warm, kind, filled with life person. Her loving family served to prove that. But he was gone and he was not coming back and Anastacia felt guilty having fun knowing that her father rotted six feet under. It was guilt too much to bear.  
  
So she ran.  
  
She ran as fast as her two feet could carry her, automatically leading her to the all-too-familiar direction of her house. Tears freely ran down her chocolate brown eyes, yet she neither payed them no mind nor did she stop running until her lungs burned her and her heart drummed in her ears. Rain had once again started pouring down, enveloping her petite figure and drawing away any prying eyes. She didn’t realize for how long she was running; she didn’t realize anything else but her scattered thoughts of utter pain and worthlessness. Yet somehow, after what appeared to be forever, she was unlocking the door and darting up to her room, closing the door and leaning against it, she allowed herself to slide down on the floor and begin to cry.  
  
Seconds turned to minutes and minutes turned to hours, yet she simply could not remember when the tears eventually stopped. In the haze of twisted and cloudy thoughts, Anastacia knew that the sun had started to plummet into the distant horizon and night was soon upon them, bringing along a penetrating cold. Even if she was inside, in the protection of her own warm room, she was completely freezing. With weary moves, the red-headed girl gulped down her emotions and focused her attention solely into making it to the bed where her favorite navy blue covers awaited for her. It was a struggle; it was a struggle to move even a single inch but she had to move or she would die from the cold. It felt like she was going to die; maybe she even was. Well, it wouldn’t be a bad outcome, given that she had failed everyone in her life, including her own self which she now clearly saw as worthless, and why should she continue to pollute more clean air if she was not going to attribute into something? Her mother was surely better without her, even if she burnt dinner and Lina would eventually push her into the back of her mind as another murky memory of her early years. As for Eric, he would just push her away from his mind as the weird girl.  
  
No harm done if she were to disappear.  
  
When she eventually reached her bed and got under the covers, she was already shivering pretty hard. Wrapping herself tightly into them, she chose to ignore the world around her –like her mom asking her if she wanted to eat anything or Lina dropping by to ask her something, only to be shooed away by their mother- and turning her gaze towards the dark window on her right, she allowed her thoughts to calm down. Since all hell broke loose, watching the huge willow tree from her bedroom window on the second floor had become a must, since it appeared to be the only way to calm her down. The huge branches waving softly in the gentle breeze; the green and white colors mixing with each other and the wind gently reaching her ears. It lulled her; she was asleep in no time.  
  
The next day found the petite adult leaning her head against the marble surface of the bathtub that existed on the small bathroom attached to her room. It was big enough to accommodate her, yet it still had a small bathtub that could provide with efficient space to relax and collect her thoughts. So right now, it was filled with warm water until the very verge of it, with rich foam almost overflowing from it, giving the whole place a rich aroma of jasmine and lilac as the vapors lingered around the room, creating a faint mist. It was early morning and the only sounds that could be heard from around the house was the creaking of the plumbing every now and then, along with Anastacia’s steady breathing that created ripples on the water’s surface.  
  
She had calmed down from last night, yet the coldness didn’t seem to abandon her even under the embrace of the water’s warmth. She tried to push it back, willingly forcing herself to calm down and just return back to her normal state, yet nothing was helping her whatsoever. And what she experienced yesterday could somehow be considered as an outburst once again, so should she contact Dr. Acels to make sure she was doing alright? Nah, she could manage it, the psychologist had taught her a few tricks to deal with her mood swings herself and the girl was more than capable to do so.  
  
On the downside though, she was replaying everything that happened between her and Eric yesterday and her embarrassment did nothing to alleviate her nerves. She had run away like he was some kind of demented murderer; like someone was chasing her in the very least. What would he think of her? She liked the smiling, vibrant man really much, even if she hated to admit it, so him thinking ill of her was in the very least embarrassing and infuriating. She wanted to hit her head against the wall until she bled out or knocked some senses into herself. I mean, she wouldn’t blame him if he thought she was absolutely deranged and certainly, she believed to be so herself. Why, why did she have to meet him right now in her lowest state; no, actually, if he knew her from before he would surely ran away the moment he would see her, like what her previous friends did. No one was really next to her; she was always alone and with people failing her. So, it would be rather normal for Eric to let her down as well. Maybe he wasn’t that perfect as she firstly though. Maybe if he was easily scared, he didn’t deserve to be with her or around her. She had no tolerance for weak, pathetic and coward people. So fuck you Eric, she didn’t need him in her life. He would just be a pathetic douchebag like the rest of them.  
  
Inhaling a sharp breath, Anastacia decides it’s time to come out of the water.  
  
Grabbing the edges of the bathtub, she hoists herself up and carefully steps out, grabbing a fresh towel and gently wrapping it around her body. Even if the coldness was still resting against her chest, she had to admit that the warm bath was exactly what she needed after the torrential rain she faced yesterday. Today, the weather hadn’t changed in the least and even if the girl wanted to preserve her perfect attendance and grades, she was happy she would be at home today. She just didn’t have time for anyone’s bullshit, along with the fact that she wanted to avoid Eric as much as possible. Not that she cared or anything; eh could rot in hell.  
  
With a deep inhale, the girl changes into a clean pair of her favorite pajamas, feeling the warm fabric engulfing her petite figure even more. Her thoughts were at bay for now; she had kept her promise to Dr. Acels and took the calming bath, proceeding to do her breathing exercises that helped her whenever she felt an attack was near. She had long ago stopped her medication in order to see how things progressed and honestly, she didn’t want to start them again. Biting her lower lip mindlessly, Anastacia reaches for one of her hair bands, without noticing the proximity it had with her favorite bottle of perfume.  
  
Accidentally her hand knocks it and it falls on the ground, breaking into a million pieces and spilling the aromatic liquid all over.  
  
Anastacia remains motionless, her hand still hovering over the washbasin.  
  
Complete silence prevails over the small room.  
  
One breath.  
  
Two breaths.  
  
Following the perfume, the next thing to break was the glass container for the hand lotion, which was catapulted against the wall above the bathtub with enormous strength. Upon contact with the wall, the glass breaks and falls in the water, leaving all the soap to decorate the wall, but rest assured that this will be least of the worries of whoever decides to clean it. Because right after it, literally everything inside the room falls victim to the petite girl’s raging anger against anything and everything that surrounded her. Glass bottles, toiletries, hair strengtheners, shampoos, literally any object that could be easily picked up and swung against any surface, fell victim to Anastacia’s emotional outburst. The girl screamed and yelled profanities to the air, destroying objects and wounding herself in various moments yet paying no attention to it whatsoever. All that because she dropped a single bottle. All that because she dropped the bottle of her favorite perfume, the one her father had offered her a few days before he died.  
  
She had been very careful not to break it in the past. And doing so now, breaking it out of carelessness, only served to add to the conflicting emotions inside of her, throwing Dr. Acels’ teachings out the window and surrendering her to the hellish magnitude of her emotions and condition. Anger, sadness and pain were all a whirlwind of haziness inside her completely foggy mind that threw her into autopilot. She broke everything, didn’t care for anything because she was useless. She as completely useless, unable to function like a normal human being and this was the reason she was all alone in the first place. This is why her friends left her, why her mother is scared of her, why Eric will never get close to her and why she will always be alone. Because she is incompetent; she can’t do a single thing right and she is nothing more than waste of space that should not exist in the first place.  
  
She she would never be enough. Maybe she should just die and be done with it, who on earth needs someone troubling next to him? She causes disaster wherever she goes. She failed to keep her father from leaving the house that night –the result was that he died because of that. She would never be close to her mother –her mood swings were something the easily scared female would never manage to deal with. She ran away from Eric –he will totally think of her as a weirdo and a lunatic. So yeah, complete waste of space doesn’t even begin to describe how petty her existence was. And now she destroyed one of the few last gifts her father had given her. Disgrace!  
  
When her rage finally subsides, she leans against the door and allows herself to drop down on the ground, breathless.  
  
The room is completely wrecked and her hands are bleeding profusely from a few spots; in her anger, she had broken a hand mirror, the glass proceeding to wound her hands. She was also crying while destroying everything and only now did she realize that her cheeks were wet and loud sobs slowly but steadily died down inside her chest.  
  
Wearily, she looks at her bleeding hands and then the remaining mirror pieces.  
  
Maybe she should finish the job.  
  
Maybe she should just pick one piece up and end everything.  
  
This was her cha-

‘Anastacia are ‘ou in?’ a small voice came from beyond the door, followed by a light knocking.  
  
Lina.  
  
Anastacia’s eyes opened wide with surprise and all of her frantic thoughts came to an abrupt stop at the sound of the small child’s voice. The girl could feel her little sister leaning against the door, knocking again faintly to be heard from her older sister, who currently realized what she had done and what her thoughts were. She couldn’t die; of course she couldn’t! Lina was still very young and she needed her the most, in order to become a beautiful girl one day. Something that would be utterly impossible if her older sister was no more. Lina was old enough to realize what was going on around her and if Anastacia was to disappear right now, when she grew older, Lina would always carry it with her. No, Lina needed her. And Anastacia needed the little girl, who she loved with all of her heart. I mean, what is not to love on a small child that can only see the goodness in others? She saw the goodness inside Anastacia and despite all her brokenness, she was still her older sister, with the duty to keep her safe and raise her properly. That was what Anastacia did from the moment Lina was born: she loved her with all her heart and raised her to be a better person than she was.  
  
And Lina was the only thing keeping Anastacia grounded at the moment. Those big brown eyes of hers, so filled with innocence and love for her older sister, Anastacia simply could not bring herself to force Lina to live without her. What if she forgot her? What if she became only a blurred memory in the end? What if she wasn’t with her in her highest and lowest moments to keep her company and help her move forward? Anastacia could not risk that. No matter how much she felt like a waste of space.  
  
‘I’m coming out in a sec Lina. Just wait there sweetheart.’ Anastacia says loud enough for the small girl to hear, picking herself up from the floor and gazing over at the destruction she brought over her bathroom.  
  
She would fix it later, she thought gazing at her bleeding hands. Now, the first priority was to wrap something on them so that she doesn’t scare Lina and take the little girl downstairs. Maybe they could have a decent breakfast since she was here. Searching the whole place for the spare bandages she kept in the cabinet, Anastacia managed to locate them under the sink. Grabbing them, she mindlessly checks for any small parts of glass still lingering in her open wounds, before she clumsily wraps the bandages around her palms. There, that should do it for now. Keeping in mind to change them later if they became bloody, she reaches the door and slips out of the room in such a way that would keep anyone from seeing all the destruction inside.  
  
The moment she does, her tired eyes fall on the small girl waiting for her patiently outside the door.  
  
‘Lina, why aren’t you at school?’ Anastacia sighs, resting her hands on her waist.  
  
‘Mama ‘aid I could stay in t’day!’ she beams a bright smile, one that manages to chase away Anastacia’s irritation.  
  
Instead, she leans down and scoops the small girl in her embrace, walking off towards the lower floor.  
  
‘And why didn’t you come wake me up earlier?’ she places a small kiss on Lina’s forehead.  
  
Lina raises her eyebrows adorably ‘’Cause I was sleepin’. Then I ‘eard you yelling and I ‘oke up.’  
  
Sighing Anastacia looks at the little kid ‘I’m sorry about that sweetheart. How about we make ourselves some nice breakfast and watch some cartoons?’  
  
‘Yeeeees!!!’ Lina squeals and hugs Anastacia by throwing her tiny hands around her neck and tightening them as much as her petite body could.  
  
‘I’ll also search for the costumes later on. After all, it’s Halloween tomorrow!’ Anastacia laughs, walking into the kitchen and setting the kid to sit down on the kitchen isle.  
  
The room was nice and cozy, with all the cabinets and furniture made out of light colored wood, matching perfectly with the metallic appliances scattered around. It was fairly new and had a lot of space to move around; perfect for a large family. The huge windows allowed rich sunlight to penetrate the space from every possible corner, even now that the torrential rain was waging war against the glass; every now and then, a thunder would echo in the distance and Anastacia was really happy to be inside the warm interior of her house as the storm waged on. It would be bad for anyone to be outside in this kind of weather. And here she was thinking that the rain yesterday was bad; in comparison with today, it seemed like a small sprinkle.  
  
Going around the room, both sisters set down to create a luxurious breakfast for themselves. Since their mother was out to run some errands in the newspaper, they had the whole place at their disposal to do as they pleased and boy oh boy, did they start a cooking contest. In just a matter of minutes, eggs, milk, flour, butter and everything one could imagine was scattered across the kitchen island; the mixer was set on top speed, cookies were already in the over and Lina was covered from tip to toe in flour, with a laughing Anastacia trying her best to clean her up and cook at the same time. It was just the kind of therapy the older girl required and for now, the joyous laughter and matters at hand had set her mind at peace, even if the heaviness in her heart didn’t subside completely. Even if she binge ate the pancakes in no time, leaving just two for Lina. Even if she couldn’t resist eating most of the freshly baked cookies. She just stuffed herself with the sweets and food in order to help the heaviness subside, but not before she made sure Lina’s plate was overflowing just as much with food. Yet, Anastacia ignored the wild protests of her stomach to stop and kept eating as much as she liked, earning Lina’s innocent giggles since she didn’t really know how bad that was. Anastacia knew, Dr. Acels had warned her about it, but right now she didn’t care.  
  
‘Anastacia, ‘hall we keep ‘ome cookies for mama?’ Lina chirped, averting her gaze from the new cookies in the oven and placing it on her sister that was currently downing the last ones from the first serve with some milk.  
  
‘Yep, these are for her. I’m full either way.’ She shrugs.  
  
‘Your tummy is huge Anastacia!’ Lina laughs and runs over to the girl, hugging her and rubbing her face against Anastacia’s stomach.  
  
‘Ouf, you have to eat just as much as me Lina if you want to be a big girl.’ Anastacia gently ruffles Lina’s hair with her bandaged hand.  
  
Lina looks up to her and smiles ‘I’ll eat more den so I can be a big girl like ‘ister! Then I’ll go to the ball with Marco!’  
  
‘So you decided to go with him? He is a cute fella if you ask me!’ Anastacia hums in approval, but Lina pouts.  
  
‘I still ‘anted to go with Alec, but a ‘ady ‘houldn’t wait long.’ She folds her hands over her chest, sticking out her lower lip adorably ‘’hat about you Anastacia? ‘Ho will take you to the ball?’  
  
‘Nobody sweetheart; we don’t have such things in my school.’  
  
‘But whyyyyy?! Don’t ‘ou want to go to the ball with a boy ‘ou like?’ Lina tilts her head to the side.  
  
For a split second, Eric’s image passes through Anastacia’s mind. His bright green eyes, his huge smile; how she ran away from him. Anastacia’s heart tightens.  
  
‘I want to sweetheart, but he doesn’t like me back.’ the girl sighs, looking at her younger sister who only scoffs and sticks her tongue out.  
  
‘Of ‘ourse he likes ‘ou dummy!’  
  
‘Lina, how many times have I told-‘  
  
Before Anastacia manages to complete her sentence, the melodic sound of the doorbell reaches both of them and instinctively, both sisters turn their heads towards the door. Anastacia raises an eyebrow; who could this be with that kind of weather?  
  
‘Lina wait here, I’ll be right back.’ the girl says and walks off towards the front door, muttering a few swears to herself as it rings again, more urgently this time.  
  
Raising her hand, she grabs a hold of the doorknob and turning it, she opens the door widely in front of her. Her furrowed eyebrows over her brown eyes only serve to intensify the furious look she has on her face as she prepares to face whoever it is that disturbs such perfect morning with her sister. Only for the red-head to freeze on her tracks.  
  
‘I’m sorry for interrupting you ma’am, but the lights in my house are off. I just moved in on the house across the street and can I please use your pho-’ the tall male standing under the protective shelter of the front porch is caught mid-sentence and his magnificent green eyes widen as Eric’s brain decides to enlighten him with realization ‘It’s a small world after all! Good morning Anastacia.’  
  
Anastacia was in complete loss of words ‘E-Eric? What are you doing here?!’  
  
‘Apparently, I moved to a house with no electricity just around the corner, but I had no idea it was close to your own house!’ he exclaims and looks around him with an impressed expression ‘No wonder the entrance looked familiar. Would you mind helping me out?’  
  
‘E-Eh, of course! Come in, it’s just me and my sister in the house.’ The girl exclaims and moves to the side, allowing the smiling male to enter the house, carefully removing his shoes and jacket before stepping on the wooden floor of the hallway. Anastacia closes the door behind her, shyness and remorse for what had happened the other day bubbling inside her heart. Not that the man made any comments about it. But still, seeing him here today, completely out of chance, maybe it was life telling her that she should apologize. It wasn’t right for him to be treated this way and the fact he still found the courage in him to smile at her was a sure indication that he didn’t hold it against her. Maybe he wouldn’t comment on it at all?  
  
‘About yesterday, I’m so sorry if I made you uncomfortable in any way, it was not my intention. You’re a sweet and clever girl and my idiot self managed to chase you away within an hour. New achievement for muah…’  
Yep! There it is, of freakin course!  
  
‘No no, I should be the one apologizing.’ Anastacia mutters, shaking her head, leading him to the kitchen with her head hung low, not even daring to look him in the eye ‘It was impolite of me to run off like that; the issue with my father is still fresh and I’m trying to deal with it the best I can. I shouldn’t have treated you like that. It’s just that-’  
  
The sincerity in her voice must have been palpable, because Eric rested his hand on her shoulder, making her stop on her tracks and freeze on the spot. Instinctively, her head turns and her eyes meet with his green own, which were filled with steady warmth and kindness that shook her to the core. Was he always this beautiful when he smiled?  
  
‘You don’t have to explain to me anything.’ He sincerely confesses ‘All I care about is that you are comfortable around me and don’t worry about anything. We can talk about this when you are ready, but I have been in your shoes and I know that this is not the time to do so. I just want you to know that you have a friend in me.’ He chimes happily, his previous spirits returning ‘And who knows? Maybe even a boyfriend.’  
  
Now, the blush that rushed over Anastacia’s cheeks was effectively turning into a stuttering mess of ‘what are you saying’ and ‘this is not the time to mess around Eric’, which the man responded to with much more teasing remarks between joking and being serious. That was, until they entered the kitchen and Lina looked up from her plate to smile a toothy grin with her cheeks filled with nutella, since she was munching on a pancake.  
  
‘And this is your little sister?’ Eric smiles, ruffling the little ones hair playfully ‘I can see the stunning resemblance.’  
  
Anastacia grabs a towel and throws it to Eric, who skillfully catches it in the air and starts wiping out all the nutella from the child’s cheeks. Lina in the mean time, didn’t seem to protest at all.  
  
‘This is my little sister Lina. Lina, this is my friend Eric. Say hello.’ Anastacia introduces the kid, searching in the meanwhile for the phone in order to aid Eric.  
  
‘Are ‘ou Ania’s friend ‘om school?’ Lina asks with a devilish grin.  
  
Eric puffs proudly ‘I am beautiful princess! I am Anastacia’s knight!’  
  
In his words, Anastacia rolls her eyes and sighs, passing a hand over her face; she swore that Lina was a handful by herself, but now that Eric was added to the equation, a headache was the least of the things that would happen to her. The man seemed even more upbeat and childish than the little girl beside him.  
  
‘’ou better keep her ‘afe or else I’ll send my dragon ‘fter ‘ou!’  
  
‘Lina! Stop scaring Eric.’ Anastacia intervenes, handing Eric the phone ‘Here, call for the electrician and you can stay here with us until he comes.’  
  
Taking the phone, Eric’s eyes lighten up as he gazes over to both sisters, winking at Lina deviously who only laughs in response ‘I shall stay to protect my princesses then! Right after I make this call!’  
  
‘Don’t play along with Lina, Eric. The kid has a way of using your words against you, so don’t make promises.’  
  
‘Nah’ Eric waves at her dismissively, never even fazed by the eminent threat ‘I do intend to keep it; as you saw today neighbor, you cannot escape me that easily.’  
  
‘You will regret this~!’ Anastacia folds her hands over her chest, a small devious grin appearing over her face.  
  
‘The deal is on Anastacia.’ Eric challenged.'  
  
From that moment onward, you didn’t need anything special to realize Anastacia’s mood was lifted. Eric surely had a way with children and in no time, Lina’s laughter could be heard throughout the whole house as she played games with Eric, ran around joyfully and ate all the things Anastacia prepared for them. The older girl was surely not spared from the games and at some point, she found herself running through the house, Lina on her hands and Eric hot on her tracks in a vicious game of tag. It was actually the best therapy the girl wanted and surely enough, Eric’s presence chased away the loneliness the two girls felt when they were all alone inside the house with nothing to do. Fortunately, the electrician Eric called was unable to come until the rain stopped, so the man had no choice but to stay with the girls, something that Anastacia secretly was thankful for.  
  
‘You really love her don’t you Anastacia?’ Eric asks at some point, gazing at Lina who sat across from them on the kitchen counter, eating away her dinner.  
  
Anastacia can’t help but smile ‘She is my whole world Eric. She is the reason why I keep going even after all that has happened. If anything happens to her, I don’t think I would be able to continue.’  
  
‘I see. Then, for Lina’s sake, please tell me that these bandages around your hands are not due to you trying to hurt yourself.’  
  
That was a statement that managed to take Anastacia by surprise. Hastily, her eyes turn to meet with Eric’s green own before they lower themselves on her bandages, which were kind of blooded already. Maybe the wounds had re-opened during their games and she hadn’t noticed it. Still, an uneasy feeling rose from her heart at the thought that the sadness painting Eric’s voice was caused by this silly thing.  
  
‘No’ she nods her hand ‘I simply had a small accident with the mirror this morning. You don’t have to worry at all Eric.’ She tries to reassure him.  
  
A gentle hand grabs a hold of her own gingerly, being all too careful not to hurt her in any way as Eric lifts her hand and gently kisses it. Anastacia’s face bursts with color, but the girl only smiles this time.  
  
‘Promise me something.’ Eric pleads ‘After tomorrow night, you will agree to come on a date with me. I won’t count tomorrow, since I plan on dazzling you with my terrible puns and black humor when we’ll be alone.’  
  
‘Black humor and puns? Count me in.’ Anastacia chuckles, as Eric leans back at the very same time that his phone vibrates with an incoming message.  
  
Checking it briefly, the man frowns ‘Got to go, the electrician is here.’ He says.  
  
Both of them walk over to the front door, with Anastacia opening the door for him, silently pouting that he had to go that early. But as Eric passes the threshold, he pauses and turns towards the shorter girl. His expression struck worry in Anastacia’s mind; it seemed to her as a mixture of worry and remorse, yet she couldn’t exactly pinpoint why and the man was quick to hide it away, opening his mouth and offering her a crooked grin.  
  
‘Don’t make me wait tomorrow. One o clock sharp, I’ll be waiting in the Square, so you and Lina will have to start trick-or-treating at 12 in order to be there okay? And after tomorrow, we will discuss the details of the date. No running away from me Montaige; I know where you live!’ he playfully threatens.  
  
Anastacia laughs ‘Alright mister Green, 12 o’ clock we’ll hit the streets. And I can’t wait for you to dazzle me with your dating skills.’  
  
Eric winks at her laughing face –which for the first time had dropped all of the girl’s defenses-, allowing him to truly see how Anastacia must have been before her father passed away. This only serves to make Eric unable to wait; instead, the man decides to create the opportunity he was craving for himself. Closing the distance that divided them, his hand flies to Anastacia’s chin and lifting it up, his lips collide briefly with her own. It is a brief, innocent kiss, which nonetheless gets his feelings across to her. Before the girl had the chance to react, he breaks it and is already waving her goodbye from the distance, leaving her a blushing mess.  
  
  
  
  


~ * ~

  
  
  
  
  
‘Come on Lina! Hurry up! We are already late!’ Anastacia chased the little girl from one room to the other, ballerina shoes at hand and a weary expression written over her face. Lina was cheerfully running right in front of her, her petite witch costume dancing in every small movement the girl made, the puffy purple skirt of the witch costume making her appear even thinner than she really was.  
  
Anastacia had been chasing the little girl around the whole house for quite a while now, trying to get her in order so that she would be able to prepare her for the trick-or-treating. Time was already escaping them by the time she did manage to stop her, plopping the little girl down on a chair and helping her put on her shoes. The trick or treating had long ago started, with many kids and adults alike roaming the dark streets of Toronto merrily, chasing one another and setting their own bets on who would be the winner of tonight’s sweet contest. Anastacia’s mother Cameron had taken it upon herself to answer the seemingly constantly ringing bell, an overflowing bowl in one hand and a large grin over her face, since it appeared that her girls were pretty occupied and she didn’t want to interrupt them.  
  
‘We are going to be late and Eric will be mad Lina!’ Anastacia reprimanded the small girl, who only giggled under the huge purple witch hat she was wearing.  
  
‘Princes al’ays ‘ait!’ she retaliated.  
  
All Anastacia could do, was roll her eyes.  
  
Both sisters had decided to dress up in matching outfits today. Lina was dressed in a purple witch costume, a large hat on her head and a small broom in her hands, which the girl used most of the time to pretend she was flying across the house. Similar to her, Anastacia had preferred to put on an orange witch costume, with a long skirt that reached her feet, matching gloves and hat adorning her bright red hair. Of course, the make-up for the night was not too far-fetched and one look over the girls would make you think there matching perfectly.  
  
Grabbing Lina by the hand once she was ready, Anastacia smiled to all the possibilities the night held in store.  
  
Leading Lina towards the entrance, Anastacia was for the very first time in a long while happy for the things to come in the future. She was actually looking forward to meet with Eric later on –even if the girls were running seriously late, since it was already a quarter to one o’ clock- and have an amazing night with him. In the thought of his cat-like grin and the shine of his bottle green eyes, she literally felt her heart skip a beat and fill with excitement that was unmatched.  
  
Maybe, just maybe, everything was going to be alright.  
  
Maybe she didn’t have to worry about everything anymore.  
  
As she and Lina reached the edge of the stairs and prepared to descend it, the doorbell rang once again with the promise of new trick-or-treaters and their mother was already grabbing the bowl of sweets before twisting the doorknob and opening he front door widely; a matching smile on her face. Anastacia, distracted at first by Lina for a small reason, returned her gaze absentmindedly on the door. Curiously, the shadows standing on the other side were strangely bigger than the usual kids running around the neighborhood at this time of the night. No, they were completely different. This caused raw curiosity to flood the girl’s mind, causing her to raise an eyebrow.  
  
Thus, everything happened in a split heartbeat.  
  
All Anastacia could really do was watch, as her mother’s demeanor changed in a single second. Cameron’s shoulders went from completely relaxed, to completely and utterly squared and tense in a matter of a single blink of an eye. The beautiful woman took a step backwards, her breath trapping itself in the back of her neck as her grip around the bowl loosened, causing it to fall on the floor and shutter. Pieces of candy and broken glass were catapulted towards every possible direction, making Anastacia’s eyes open wide, but it took no time to register what was really going on. Cameron turned towards her daughters, her eyes flooded with raw horror and determination, an expression the oldest daughter had never seen on her mother, as her mouth fell open and her piercing scream reverberated through the eerily silent house, causing a wild shiver of horror run through Anastacia’s spine.  
  
‘ANASTACIA! TAKE LINA AND RUN! RUN!!!’  
  
Then, all Anastacia saw, was a baseball bat coming in hard contact with the side of her mother’s face.  
  
The only thing Cameron could do was scream as the bat came in contact with her face with immense power, bones shuttering under the monstrous power which was placed upon it, a cracking sound that reached even Anastacia’s frozen self. The mother was thrown immediately to the ground on her left like a complete rag doll, falling ungracefully on it and throwing her hands over her pained face, in a desperate attempt to protect herself and ease it a little bit. Her screams were loud and clear, making cold sweat dance across Anastacia’s face, who could not find the strength inside herself to look away from the front door. Petrified beyond human capability and shaken to the core, all she could really do was watch helplessly as not one, but five menacing and dark figures entered the once cozy home, swinging their bats and knives lazily and tauntingly, as if they owned the whole place. It was a surreal sight to see for sure; all of them towered well above Anastacia’s and Cameron’s height, masculinity and cockiness being the very first attributes one could grace them with, along with the fact that they were all males, huge and bulky males, dressed in Dia De Muertos outfits from tip to toe. Their whole aura screamed danger and malice, something that polluted the air like miasma of the darkest kind.  
  
This was not going to end well.  
  
As Anastacia watched them in horror, unable to react or do anything, one of them strangely looked up and briefly made eye contact with the frozen girl.  
  
The rest of them seemed to laugh maniacally and mockingly, two of them walking threatenly towards a retreating desperate Cameron, who shook her head and cried her eyes out at the approaching danger. She never felt more scared than now; not even when her husband was telling her gruesome stories about the encounters he had with various criminals or killers and now seeing them approach her, entering her once safe home and sanctuary, she knew nothing good was going to come of it. Her husband had led a dangerous life and as it seemed, it had finally caught up with them. Only that now, Andrew was long gone and he was not coming back to protect them. Involuntarily, she allows a small sob to escape her lips, even if tears had long ago stained her beautiful face. Looking at them, she knew at least she was done for; that did not mean her daughters should go down with her though. In the thought of them, Cameron steels her nerves with pure mother instinct. Suddenly, she didn’t feel as useless and powerless than before; even if the men were approaching her like true predators stalks her prey, she would stand her ground and take them with her to protect her daughters. She was going to protect them and die trying in order to keep them away; it was after all, her duty. Raw mother instinct.  
  
Clenching her jaw, she turns to her oldest daughter who had frozen in place one last time.  
  
‘Anastacia!’ she screams to get her attention ‘I’LL HOLD THEM BACK! TAKE LINA AND GO! SAVE YOURSELVES! RUN NOW!!!’  
  
And with that, Anastacia watched in surprise as her mother jumped on her feet and with a wild and determined scream of pure anger, lunged against the intruders barehanded. Punches and kicks were thrown towards every direction, lacing the air with some rounds of screams and heavy cursing by unknown male voices.  
  
It was only then that Anastacia realized the grave danger.  
  
It was only when she saw her own mother being pushed back on the ground roughly, the bat being raised in the air with a wild scream of victory from the monstrous man, that she realized what she had to do. Cameron’s scream never reached her ears. Instead, a bone-chilling cracking sound of bones did. It set her into motion though. It threw her off the edge once and for all. It ignited her veins, threw her heart off her chest and steeled her mind to turn on the ultimate survival mode. After all, she had to come face to face with animals. Dangerous and horrifying animalistic males.  
  
One of the intruders didn’t even have the change to make a single step towards the staircase before Anastacia was set into motion with an abrupt start.  
  
Sparing no glance to what was happening right in front of her, the lethal danger they were in and the screams of her mother drilling their way into her brain, Anastacia acts upon pure instinct. Turning her full attention to the little girl that was curiously overlooking the situation, trying to understand what was going on, she grabs her by the arms and quickly raises her into her own protective hands before making a run for it towards the master bedroom; their only way out. The weight of Lina’s body seems like nothing due to the raging adrenaline pumping through Anastacia’s veins, offering her a rush of energy she had never felt before- one that she wished to never experience again as well. Her feet came in hard contact with the floor, steps pounding loudly against the wooden surface and resonating with the two other ones that seemed to be in hot pursuit.  
  
‘GET THE GIRLS!’  
  
‘After them!!!’ she hears them screaming behind her, making all blood leave her face and her heart to stop inside her chest from the pure horror.  
  
I have to run! I have to run faster! We need to get away!!!  
  
The master bedroom seemed to be oh, so far away in those moments. Anastacia was urging herself internally to run faster, to ignore the terrified cries of Lina over her shoulder and run to get away from them; the small girl had finally realized the horrifying reality and sensing the danger, she was crying her eyes out over her sister’s shoulder, who was unable to comfort her at the moment. Also, seeing the monstrous men running after them with murder written all over their faces, did nothing to ease her worries as well. Instead, they seemed to close the distance between them, raising the bat and the knife they were holding victoriously, as they were closing in on the girls who had nowhere else to go. It was only a matter of time to catch them; and then they would follow the fate of their mother, who was screaming her soul out- her screams dancing across the hallways.  
  
Just a few more steps…  
  
Anastacia was already tired of running and carrying Lina…  
  
Just a little bit and they would catch them and then….  
  
One of the men raised his hand forward, his fingers dancing on the edges of Anastacia’s hair…  
  
Putrid smell of metal and rust reached the red-headed girl’s nose, making her stomach churn and her eyes to widen.  
  
She could almost feel the men breathing down on her neck.  
  
Then her hands grabbed a hold of the bedroom door.  
  
With all the force she could muster she flings the door closed throwing her whole body weight against it as the men pounded on the door trying to get it open. Lina was crying, the men were cursing and laughing darkly and Anastacia was breathlessly trying to get the door to close, since it was a matter of life and death. Her head was pounding, her heart was beating and dropping further and further down into the pits of her stomach when as if by some miracle the door closed, enabling her to turn the lock and provide them with the much needed shelter. Even if it was for only some seconds that could still be proved to be crucial.  
  
The men continued to pound on the door, curses of frustration leaving their lips before the pounding returned tenfold, as if they were trying to get the door down. Anastacia looked all around her, her eyes scanning the familiar room for a spot to hide or even escape this murderous house. There was no phone so the police could not be notified and they were already on the second floor, which denied them any easy way out. Hugging Lina against her to provide some comfort for the little girl, she rushes to the window and gazes outside, calculating the distance that divided them from the ground: if she flung herself out of the window it was possible that she would break a lot of bones, she thought with dread, but Lina would be able to run to the neighbors for help. New fear rushed through her veins polluting her mind with thoughts that she wouldn’t make it , that she would die and honestly it was a well based fear for the red-headed girl.  
  
Yet clenching her jaw decisively she sees that there is no other way out. The screams of her mother have now shushed though the house and as the girl fears for the worst, a loud bang comes from the door. Her head snaps towards it only to see the door creaking and beginning to crack.  
  
They were already coming inside the room.  
  
She was running out of time.  
  
‘Lina I want you to listen to me very carefully’ Anastacia says, dropping on her knees while pulling the covers from the side of the bed, she swiftly shoves Lina under the bed with the little girl giving no protest.  
  
Still Anastacia can feel her heart shattering upon seeing her sister’s eyes glowing in the faint light with the tears that were still cascading her small face. At that point she was hating herself for what she was about to do, for daring to leave Lina alone, but there was no other way out instead of the obvious one. And Anastacia would take it; she would put her life on the line if that meant Lina would be safe. Hot tears bubbled on the edges of her beautiful eyes, fast to descend her cheeks and drip on the floor, as the sisters shared a small, calming moment of complete love. It was a farewell for one of them and their love was leading them to do the ultimate sacrifice. It was the last time they would see one another, but Anastacia wished with all her heart for Lina to continue on, to forget this monstrous night and grow up to be the fair woman she knew she would be.  
  
As she talked, Anastacia’s sweet voice trembled and struggled to come out as anything stronger than a whisper, but the smile she gave to a shaking Lina was one filled with pure, unwavering love.  
  
‘Whatever you hear, don’t scream. I am right beside you; I will protect you with everything I have. Do not come out if dad’s friends aren’t here to get us okay?’ she urged the little girl.  
  
Lina shook her head, failing to fathom what was going to happen to her older sister ‘O-okay.’  
  
‘I love you Lina. With all my heart. I will always protect you.’  
  
And with that, Anastacia pulled the covers over the opening once again, completely concealing Lina’s presence.  
  
Using her hands to push herself away from the floor, Anastacia turns her head towards the pounding door just in time to see it come completely down. Pieces of wood get catapulted against every possible surface, making the girl throw a hand over her face in order to protect herself as what was left of the door comes down completely; the moment it does, two bulky men enter the room serenely, both of them appearing like true monstrosities to the eyes of the small girl, towering well above her. One of them was holding onto a knife that shone on the faint light –along with a baseball bat as well- while the other was holding an old looking sledgehammer over both his hands, a smug smile spreading over his face as he looked over the demolished door and then back at Anastacia, who almost fainted at the sight.  
  
Instead, a toothy grin appeared over his lips, bloodlust covering his eyes as he eyed her up and down ‘~Heeeereeee’s Billieeee!’  
  
‘What do you want from us?!’ Anastacia screamed, her hands curling up to fists as she glared towards the two men, trying to appear fearless.  
  
The two men seemed taken aback for a split second, maybe not expecting her to speak up, but when they return their gazes back at her, their smiles betray everything Anastacia needed to know.  
  
‘What do you say we have a little bit of fun Paul?’ the first man chuckles deviously, looking Anastacia up and down in a way that made her feel utterly uncomfortable- especially when he proceeded to lick his lips provocatively. The girl wanted to hug herself in a protective way; only that she couldn’t move a muscle. She was trapped inside her own body.  
  
‘Don’t see why not.’ The other man responded ‘Steven and Carl are having their fun downstairs already.’  
  
‘That’s what I needed to know.’ The first man said and before Anastacia had the chance to realize it, he had already raised the sledgehammer over his head ‘Let’s beat the feistiness out of her.’  
  
With that single sentence, Anastacia knew she had to move quickly. It was true that her father had taught her a lot about close quarters defense, but she was never the one to pick up those things easily. Seeing the first man coming towards her threatenly, crazed expression flashing over his features which were heavily make-uped, she realizes there is only one way to avoid him. Swallowing hard, the petite girl decides to move fast; leaning her torso forward and at the very precise time that the sledgehammer is swung downwards, with a fluid motion she steps to the side, avoiding the heavy weapon with ease. Just when she was about to sigh a sigh of relief, she feels something moving and a sharp pain pierces the right side of her face. The world became a complete blur around her and her knees subsided by themselves, throwing her to the floor. Instinctively, her hands went to cover her face, trying to hold on the pained spot as if it was about to fall off. Tears ran from her eyes, as loud screams of pain came out of her lips.  
  
‘Thought you could outsmart us? Well, we’ll make you pay bitch! We’ll kill you AND your family!’ she heard them say and through her tears, she could see them circling around her like true vultures.  
  
Suddenly, she felt a hand get tangled in her hair and one of them pulled her hard on her feet, pulling her from her hair, making her scream in pain. As she stood on her feet, though, she successfully knees him in the stomach, making him swear loudly and bend in two out of pure pain. Turning her back on him, she searches for the other man that seemed to disappear from her sight, but then two strong arms wrapped around her waist.  
  
‘Where are you going sweetheart? Leaving us so fast?’ he whispers derangely in her ear, slowly and maniacally.  
  
Crying out loudly and struggling against his grip like a true madwoman, tossing and turning and screaming and kicking everything that might be on her path in order to get him to release her, she hears the man swear under his breath and with a sharp movement, he throws her heavily on the floor. Anastacia crashes hard on it, but before she had the chance to react, she hears a heavy, slashing sound and the sledgehammer comes in hard contact with her leg. Instantly, a cracking sound reaches her ears, the very same time that a piercing pain resonates through her body, splitting her mind in two. Her scream leaves her lips and there would be no way for it not to have been heard throughout the whole house; Anastacia arcs her back in complete pain but her voice is soon completely drowned by the blood when the first kick finds her straight in the stomach.  
  
Coughing up a mouthful of blood, she tries desperately to protect herself any way she could, but their murderous anger made them continue to kick her wherever they could, making her scream from pain and blood to come out from her mouth and nose. It was there that the second kick landed: straight into her face, shattering her nose and bathing her face in blood. Time seemed to seize around Anastacia and all the girl could feel, was the pain the two sadistic men were inflicting on her; the sledgehammer was raised in the air many times. Many times it came in contact with various points over her fragile body that was unable to fight back. Quite a few times, the knife of the man named Paul was buried in her flesh in an excruciating way that made her cough up more blood. After a while, the girl could no longer hear her own screams. After a while, her broken jaw could no longer move to aid her in screaming. After a while, a mighty ruby pool had formed under her shattered body that was unable to even move a single inch, bend in weird angles in various places, betraying how her bones had been turned into powder; including her spine. Darkness was penetrating the edges of her vision, her lungs were desperately trying to choke out the blood in order to breathe and her mind was slowly but steadily slipping over the edge. Her ears were polluted by the sound of bones cracking. Of deranged laughter and sadistic cries of victory; these were not men, but monsters out of the darkest abyss.  
  
Anastacia cried and prayed to the all merciful God to take her on the spot, to take her soul away and release her from this excruciating pain, but no response ever came back and she was left to the merciless actions of the two murderers. She tried to keep her sanity as much as she could, trying to focus on the faces of her sister and parents, but after a certain point, not even that was helping her. She just wanted to die on the spot. And she wished to die.  
  
With all her heart.  
  
Abruptly, the vicious attack against her had stopped and instead, a loud ‘thump’ was heard and someone leaned over the bruised girl. In a flash, he grabbed a fistful of her hair and raised her head up in such way, that enabled whoever it was to lean towards her ear. Anastacia’s breath hitched; from what she could see, it was the second man, Paul.  
  
‘Little witch, you know what they did to girls like you in the past?’ a deranged and sickenly sweet voice breathed in her ear ‘The kind men of the villages used to _brand the evil witches, so no one would come close to them again. They branded them so everybody knew they worshiped Satan. And tonight, we’ll brand you as well to let everyone know what a fucking whore you really are~!’_  
  
Anastacia tried to move herself; her instincts were screaming bloody murder as she watched the man pull his knife out and place it treacherously slowly over her left eye, just above her eyebrow. Swallowing hard, she flinched and tried to move out of his way, to get away from him as fast as she could, but it was already too late. In a split second, the man grabs a steady hold of the knife and pulls it down with everything he had. Anastacia manages to scream even louder, with fresh blood blurring her vision completely. But still, it seemed like the man had left her eye untouched. He proceeded to do the same to her other eye, cutting it down, until he reached the same height as her jaw. Laughing louder and after driving the blade through her chest one last time, he stood up. This was the end. Anastacia could feel it. The cold numbness had begun to spread over her body and her mind started growing numb. This was the end.  
  
  
‘No!!! Don’t ‘urt my Ania! ‘on’t ‘urt her!’ a voice seemed to pierce through everything around them.  
  
After all the torturing Anastacia had experienced in the hands of the nightmarish men, after all the pain and the blood and the shattered bones and stab wounds, nothing was ever able to horrify her to the bone as that single voice did in that mere second. Suddenly, everything seemed to freeze for her; she could hear her heart beat accelerate inside her chest, she was strongly aware of her own breathing and the breathing of the other two men, she could feel loud steps reverberating under her as someone seemed to make his way towards the room they were currently in.  
  
Yet nothing mattered at that moment, as the girl painfully turned her head to the side and through all the blood that had entered her field of vision, managed to see the figure of Lina standing proudly beside her. Her small hands were clenched into fists and her pink lips were forming a frown as she glared towards the two men, her tear-stained face betraying nothing but determination. Apparently, she was done listening to Anastacia’s desperate cries and her innocent mind had urged her to come out and protect her older sister.  
  
Further horrifying Anastacia, who was unable to stop her or protect her. What if they hurt her?! Despite her pain and broken limbs, Anastacia stretches her hand towards her sister, a small whisper-like sound of Lina’s name coming out of her lips as she desperately tried to make her back away.  
  
‘……Li……n….a…….n…o…………R…un!’ it was painful to talk with a broken jaw, but Anastacia nevertheless ignored it.  
  
Lina though, straight up ignored her.  
  
The presence of the little girl though, had apparently thrown the two men off guard as well. They surely did not expect such a young child to appear out of nowhere.  
  
‘What the fuck?! A little girl?!’ Paul yelled to the other man, surprised.  
  
‘What do we do now man? She’s just a little girl!’  
  
‘I ain’t hurting her. She’s no threat whatsoever!’ Paul threw his bloodstained hands over his head in exaggeration.  
  
‘Steven said to leave no witnesses dude!’ the first man said, dropping his sledgehammer and looking between his companion and Lina.  
  
Anastacia was still trying to reach Lina with everything she had, stretching her hand as far as she could.  
  
‘She ain’t no witness, she’s a child! What do we do?!’  
  
The steps were now nearing the room.  
  
‘Maybe we should tell Steven!’  
  
Anastacia stretched a bit more.  
  
‘He ain’t gonna do shit!’  
  
The two men were angrily screaming at each other.  
  
‘Then what?!’  
  
Lina took a step forward, her determination surpassing the youth of her age.  
  
‘No ‘urting Ania!’  
  
The first man snapped.  
  
‘Shut up little girl!’  
  
Anastacia almost reached Lina’s foot.  
  
‘Paul go tell Stev-‘  
  
  
  
  
  


**_BAM!_ **

  
  
  
  


**_THUD_ **

  
  
  
  
  
‘We’ll not leave any witnesses behind.’ An unknown male voice said from the door, but Anastacia never really registered who it was or who else had joined them inside the room.  
  
No.  
  
Nothing of that mattered.  
  
Her brain simply wiped everything -other than a single thing- out of her memory and attention.  
  
In life, there are some particular things you can overcome. Pain and hurt, wounds that are bestowed upon you from various people and for various reasons pierce your heart every single day, leaving you gasping for air and praying that time will heal them fast. Heal them, so that you will never have to experience them ever again, and fast, because the pain is immense. There are other types of pain that leave you gasping for air, tear-stained face and broken heart oozing blood. They hurt immensely, no?  
  
So, what if I told you that there is a certain type of pain that cannot be mended. Not even if thousands of years pass, not even if your soul passes onto the afterlife or even manages to reincarnate in some secluded place of the world. What if there is a certain type of pain that kills you mercilessly and keeps you alive to feel it? This kind of pain reaches deep into your torso, grasping your heart in its clawed hand only to rip it straight out of your chest with such malice, that the wounds are left hanging, bleeding and unable to heal. There is a pain so great, that reaches your soul and rips it in half. You can no longer breathe, you can no longer think, you can no longer feel, you can no longer live. And that pain is only caused when you see your most beloved soul in planet earth die. When you see the Light of Life flashing and eventually dying inside their beautiful eyes, leaving behind nothing but the remembrance of what once was, of the person you would give your very own life in exchange of theirs. A pain that no human should ever experience in their entire life; or all the others for that matter.  
  
Lina’s body gingerly touches the ground next to the bed. The beautiful kid’s eyes are still open, gazing towards everything happening around her with a gentle expression of curiosity permanently placed upon it. Her pink lips are half open, her white skin appearing like porcelain in the light and her adorable big eyes staring straight into Anastacia’s soul. It was as if the girl had simply fallen down, playfully lying down along with her sister, her face turned towards her and her delicate hand outstretched for Anastacia to grasp. She was so beautiful at that very moment; her hair fanned around her like a river of red, making her look like a true angel that graced planet earth. The only thing that kept her grounded to mortality, was the single bullet wound right in the middle of her forehead, which was dripping with a single drop of blood.  
  
Anastacia’s screams were only faint sounds due to the blood that had infiltrated her lungs. If she could, she would scream her lungs out of the chest. Her doe-like brown eyes were flooded with millions of tears, cascading the sides of her face and middling with the ruby colored blood that had pooled around her. Her body was trembling violently. Anastacia felt like she was about to die from the pain; a pain that was completely different from her wounds and infinite times more severe and bloodcurdling. She never felt the pain from her broken bones as she tried to reach Lina’s hand, failing to grasp a hold of her small palm for a few millimeters. Her brain simply refused that her sister was lying dead right beside her; no! Lina was about to wake up! This was all just a dream! She would wake up and everything would be fine!! It’s all a dream her depression and borderline personality disorder gave her, bringing forth the darkest of her darkest fears, only to break her. This was not reality, Lina was not dead! She was not dead! She was alive! Here Lina, take Anastacia’s hand! You are going to wake up Lina! YOU ARE NOT DEAD LINA!  
  
A shadow falls upon her.  
  
Out of the corner of her eyes, Anastacia watches two men stand above her, one pointing at her with a gun straight for her heart and another one looking at her pitifully, with a very familiar pair of bottle green eyes.  
  
Recognition flashed through Anastacia’s tortured mind and her eyes widened.  
  
‘When you go to hell witch.’ the man with the gun spoke up ‘Tell your father we said ‘hello’. Now, we’ll claim your soul.’  
  
Anastacia turned her head towards the small girl and with one last push she tried to reach her hand.  
The second gunshot sounded for that night.  
  
Anastacia’s hand fell on the ground, almost touching Lina’s hand.  
  
Almost.  
  
  
  
  
  


**~ ~ * * ~ ~**

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


_…..Anastacia was cold……_

_All the girl could feel, was the piercing coldness enveloping her whole being like a secure blanket, pulling her deeper and deeper towards the abyssal darkness of something far more sinister than mere oblivion._

_Yet, as if by some miracle, her eyes flicker and open for a split second._

_Through the blurriness of her vision, she could make out faintly the surrounding bedroom and the corpse of a little girl right beside her, as well as her outstretched hand that ached to reach her._

_……Everything was only a blur……_

_Except from that._

_There was a coal black snake curling its way towards her, slithering from her outstretched palm and coming towards her with a steady pace, looking at her with its bright, orange eyes that were only pointed out even more by the V shaped silver marking on its head._

_Anastacia was curious, but Death was fast to drag her once again back into its embrace._

_Only a second before she was completely lost, she heard it._

_…… A name……_

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**~ ~ * * ~ ~**

  
  
  
  
  
  
An ancient legend says that on the day of Halloween spirits of the Dead are free to roam around the earth beside the Living.  
  
On that Halloween, people roamed the streets of Toronto freely, kids of every age and adults that never really aged running up and down the streets in a wild chase of who would gather the most sweets. The winner of the night would be a small boy that was dressed as the Frankenstein monster. Everyone was having the time of their lives, completely oblivious of the horrors that were taking place right next to them. Maybe if they knew, they wouldn’t be so happy or foolish. Maybe their hearts would be stricken with fear and dread. Alas, nothing like that was going to happen that particular night.  
  
The Montaige household was once again, completely silent. Cameron’s body was lying on its back near the living room, blood staining the wooden floor and eyes staring at the ceiling in a silent relief. On the contrary, Lina’s body was gently placed on the king sized bed, her eyes closed and hands crossed over her tummy, making her look like a sleeping anger. A yellow marigold was placed among her hands. Certainly, both of their souls would be granted passage to the Afterlife, let alone be allowed to turn into angels.  
  
Even if a monster was awakening right next to them.  
  
The calming silence only the dead could provide was at some point interrupted, as a small growl was heard coming from the master bedroom. It resembled nothing human or animal alike. Slowly but steadily, the sound of footsteps pierced the silence, as something inside the house started moving. Sitting up from the floor, it gazed around it, an insatiable hunger grazing its stomach but there was not a single human food that would ever be able to satisfy it. Instead, the monster rises to its feet, its mind set on the quest to find food. Its head turns to the side, where an oh-so-mouthwatering smell resonates, but seeing the little angelic girl, a cry of pain rises from its lips and it throws its hands over its eyes; averting its gaze from the little kid and weeping a loss that would never be recovered. Biting down on its own lip, it decides to leave this place. Rising on its own two feet and walking towards the door, its monstrous and deranged eyes befall upon an old, forgotten sledgehammer lying on the floor; it is blooded and pieces of flesh still hang from it, awakening a dangerous, animalistic anger within the beast, which proceeds to pick it up and take it with it.  
  
_‘…..Hu…ngry………so…..so….hungry…..~’_  
  
The sound of its footsteps reverberates like true gunshots throughout the house, along with its low growls of anger, yet there is no one there to hear it.  
  
_‘I’m……so…..hungry….’_  
  
Reaching the end of the stairs, its attention is once again drawn by a smell that whispers mouthwatering hunger on its mind. Slowly, its head turns to the left, only to pinpoint the peaceful Cameron lying in the pool of her own blood.  
  
_‘M….om……I’m….hungry……I’m sorry…but I am…so **hungry~!’**_  
  
Poor Cameron. Who would have known that even after your death, someone would still come after you. Who would have told you, that a beast would fall on its knees right next to you and lick all your blood from the floor. And as if that wasn’t enough, it would open you up afterwards in order to draw all of your blood and satisfy its hunger.  
  
At some point, the door of the Montaige household flings open. Through it, a monster coming out of the darkest pit of Hell steps out, curiously looking around it at the passing, clueless people and towards the moonless night that spreads above its head. A wild hunger and a fire slowly light up inside its chest and the grin that spreads over its face would be able to kill thousands on the spot out of pure horror. There are a lot of things the monster wants to do; all this potential prey just waiting to satisfy its hunger like well-fed pigs waiting to be slaughtered. All those souls just waiting to be claimed. Then, those particular five souls she was simply aching to collect. Soon, they would all be hers. They would all be claimed by the witch. They would satisfy her burning hunger.  
  
An ancient legend says that on the night of Halloween, the Veil between Our Side and the Other Side wanes dangerously. On that Halloween night, an ancient demon escaped and was unleashed upon the earth. Taking a single step towards complete liberty, it already knows what it is going to be and the ecstatic happiness it feels could only mean calamity upon mankind.  
  
To honor the night it was born, the demon decides upon her name.  
  
Halloween.


End file.
